ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares were up 1.4% on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $1,202.00 to $1,207.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. ASML traded as high as $837.96 and last traded at $836.11. Approximately 267,567 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,246,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $824.26.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ASML. Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,111.80.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $844.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $925.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $326.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 26.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.38 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.17%.

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.