ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 3.6% Higher – What’s Next?

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price shot up 3.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $713.68 and last traded at $711.47. 2,325,913 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 1,861,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $686.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ASML. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $943.83.

ASML Price Performance

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 company’s 50 day moving average is $726.48 and its 200 day moving average is $860.97. The stock has a market cap of $283.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. Research analysts forecast that ASML Holding 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the second quarter worth about $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.