ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $937.00.

ASML has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $790.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $815.00 to $767.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. DZ Bank raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at $191,000. LM Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ASML by 270.9% during the 4th quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Infinitum Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at $6,931,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in ASML by 102.4% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASML opened at $746.93 on Thursday. ASML has a 12-month low of $645.45 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $293.86 billion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $733.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $756.28.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.67 by ($0.37). ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. Equities analysts anticipate that ASML will post 25.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $1.5855 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from ASML’s previous dividend of $1.08. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 31.35%.

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.