ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,147.80.

ASML Stock Performance

Shares of ASML opened at $795.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $313.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $870.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $939.66. ASML has a 52 week low of $563.99 and a 52 week high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.37 EPS. ASML’s revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that ASML will post 20.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,967,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,760,348,000 after acquiring an additional 95,795 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in ASML by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,668,386,000 after purchasing an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,608,921,000 after purchasing an additional 294,784 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,224,002,000 after buying an additional 121,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 15.4% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,282,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,311,545,000 after buying an additional 170,992 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. develops, produces, markets, sells, and services advanced semiconductor equipment systems for chipmakers. It offers advanced semiconductor equipment systems, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems. The company also provides extreme ultraviolet lithography systems; and deep ultraviolet lithography systems comprising immersion and dry lithography solutions to manufacture various range of semiconductor nodes and technologies.