ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 2.7% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price was up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $1,175.00 to $1,275.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a buy rating on the stock. ASML traded as high as $1,091.30 and last traded at $1,088.8430. Approximately 2,099,569 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 1,674,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,060.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised ASML from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Redburn Partners set a $1,200.00 price target on ASML in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ASML from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,140.00.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,352,596 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,213,705,000 after buying an additional 108,342 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of ASML by 17.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,919,154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,791,982,000 after purchasing an additional 577,448 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in ASML by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,148,506 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,079,948,000 after purchasing an additional 305,435 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in ASML by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,933,748 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,861,445,000 after purchasing an additional 385,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in ASML by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,865,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,805,733,000 after purchasing an additional 142,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $436.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.13, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,018.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $856.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.31.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 47.74%. The firm had revenue of $8.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ASML Holding N.V. will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.857 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 29th. This is a positive change from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $7.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.80%.

ASML Company Profile

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.