ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $943.83.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on ASML in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new position in ASML in the second quarter worth about $216,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in ASML by 53.2% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 360 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of ASML during the 2nd quarter valued at $283,000. IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the 2nd quarter worth about $324,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in ASML by 17.9% in the second quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 92 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $714.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $693.93 and a 200-day moving average of $815.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.49. ASML has a 12 month low of $645.45 and a 12 month high of $1,110.09.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

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.