ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $943.83.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $858.00 price target on the stock.

ASML Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASML opened at $708.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. ASML has a 1-year low of $645.45 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $278.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $723.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $859.93.

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

ASML Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a dividend of $1.407 per share. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,654,921,000 after acquiring an additional 31,879 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 3.3% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,855,624,000 after purchasing an additional 70,776 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,061,000 after purchasing an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in ASML by 4,379.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in ASML by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 817,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.