ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Up 3.5% – What’s Next?

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) traded up 3.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1,044.73 and last traded at $1,039.33. 1,572,019 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 1,673,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,004.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASML. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,105.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Arete Research raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,076.33.

ASML Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,000.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $839.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $380.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.88.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.74% and a net margin of 27.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were paid a $1.857 dividend. This represents a $7.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 29th. ASML’s payout ratio is presently 25.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in ASML in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 153.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of ASML during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of ASML during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of ASML by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 34 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Company Profile

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.