ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Shares Up 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) rose 1.7% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $685.00 and last traded at $684.62. Approximately 415,451 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,446,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $672.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASML has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $263.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $737.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $868.72.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 47.61%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 29.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in ASML in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.