ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 2.2% – Still a Buy?

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)’s share price was up 2.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $995.14 and last traded at $987.82. Approximately 1,624,383 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 1,678,153 shares. The stock had previously closed at $966.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Susquehanna upped their target price on ASML from $965.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. DZ Bank restated a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,076.33.

ASML Trading Up 3.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,005.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $845.94.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 47.74%. ASML’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.857 per share. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $7.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,919,154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,791,982,000 after buying an additional 577,448 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ASML in the 1st quarter worth about $360,262,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at about $505,510,000. Regents of The University of California acquired a new position in ASML in the third quarter worth about $413,335,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in ASML by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,933,748 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,861,445,000 after buying an additional 385,502 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.