ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 1.6% – Should You Buy?

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price rose 1.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $1,735.53 and last traded at $1,704.37. 1,058,412 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 1,894,103 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,678.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ASML shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morningstar downgraded shares of ASML to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,970.33.

ASML Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $684.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,770.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,551.72.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, June 28th. The semiconductor company reported $8.65 EPS for the quarter. ASML had a return on equity of 52.71% and a net margin of 30.11%.The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 44.68 EPS for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a dividend of $2.1507 per share. This represents a $8.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ASML by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,484,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,798,268,000 after buying an additional 132,353 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of ASML by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,641,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,168,227,000 after buying an additional 96,860 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,560,256 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,060,833,000 after buying an additional 19,051 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,526,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,633,046,000 after buying an additional 193,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,282,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,550,840,000 after buying an additional 59,888 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is a Dutch company that develops, manufactures and services advanced photolithography systems used to produce semiconductor chips. Headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, ASML supplies capital equipment and associated software and services that enable semiconductor manufacturers to pattern the intricate circuits on silicon wafers. The company is widely recognized for its leadership in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as well as its deep ultraviolet (DUV) platforms used across multiple process nodes.

ASML’s product portfolio includes EUV and DUV lithography machines, light sources, imaging optics and control software, together with spare parts, upgrades and field services.