ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 7.1% – What’s Next?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price traded up 7.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $765.60 and last traded at $765.08. 993,921 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 1,006,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $714.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $943.83.

ASML Stock Up 7.4 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $693.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $815.68. The company has a market capitalization of $301.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. As a group, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,879 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 3.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in ASML by 37.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after buying an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in ASML by 4,379.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after buying an additional 870,010 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of ASML by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Company Profile

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.