JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Price Target to $1,207.00

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,202.00 to $1,207.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on ASML from $1,185.00 to $1,000.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded ASML from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $1,071.80.

ASML Price Performance

NASDAQ ASML opened at $840.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $330.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.37, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $844.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $924.59. ASML has a 52-week low of $573.86 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09.

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

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $1.8732 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 30.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter valued at $504,000. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in ASML by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 429,798 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $325,323,000 after purchasing an additional 49,318 shares in the last quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,445,000. Finally, Greenwich Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ASML in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors 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.