ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,970.3333.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ASML. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ASML from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on ASML from $1,971.00 to $2,623.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Argus set a $2,100.00 target price on ASML in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Friday, July 17th.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,484,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,798,268,000 after purchasing an additional 132,353 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in ASML by 31.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,459,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,892,869,000 after acquiring an additional 592,125 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 6.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 96,860 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,060,833,000 after purchasing an additional 19,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in ASML by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,526,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,633,046,000 after purchasing an additional 193,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $1,696.16 on Monday. ASML has a 52 week low of $716.20 and a 52 week high of $1,999.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,764.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,592.80. The firm has a market cap of $667.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.79.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its earnings results on Sunday, June 28th. The semiconductor company reported $8.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 30.11% and a return on equity of 52.71%. The firm had revenue of $10.62 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ASML will post 44.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a dividend of $2.1507 per share. This represents a $8.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.62%.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) is a Dutch company that develops, manufactures and services advanced photolithography systems used to produce semiconductor chips. Headquartered in Veldhoven, Netherlands, ASML supplies capital equipment and associated software and services that enable semiconductor manufacturers to pattern the intricate circuits on silicon wafers. The company is widely recognized for its leadership in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as well as its deep ultraviolet (DUV) platforms used across multiple process nodes.

ASML’s product portfolio includes EUV and DUV lithography machines, light sources, imaging optics and control software, together with spare parts, upgrades and field services.