ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) shares were up 1.2% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $1,612.00 and last traded at $1,590.90. 1,909,951 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 9% from the average session volume of 1,745,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,571.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $2,100.00 price objective on shares of ASML in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,079.12.

ASML Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $613.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.17, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,720.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,683.93.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, September 27th. The semiconductor company reported $14.71 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $13.27 billion for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 34.10% and a return on equity of 64.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that ASML Holding N.V. will post 46.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 27th will be paid a $2.1077 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 27th. This is a negative change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.1507. This represents a $8.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of ASML by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,892,869,000 after purchasing an additional 592,125 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position 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 last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of ASML by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 19,051 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of ASML by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,282,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,550,840,000 after acquiring an additional 59,888 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in ASML by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,033,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,364,963,000 after acquiring an additional 18,768 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. is a Netherlands-based technology company that develops and manufactures advanced lithography systems used by semiconductor manufacturers to produce integrated circuits. Its equipment helps customers transfer intricate circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, a critical step in the production of processors, memory chips and other semiconductor devices.

ASML’s product portfolio includes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, which support the production of the most advanced chips, as well as deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems for a broad range of semiconductor applications.