ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) rose 1.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $685.00 and last traded at $684.62. Approximately 415,451 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,446,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $672.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna cut their price target on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $737.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $868.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $263.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.24 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. As a group, equities analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given 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 0.84%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new position in ASML during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ASML during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in ASML in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in ASML in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ASML during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by 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.