ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading 3.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shot up 3.1% during trading on Friday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. ASML traded as high as $1,096.20 and last traded at $1,095.24. 342,642 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 1,114,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,062.50.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ASML. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ASML from $1,072.00 to $1,052.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ASML has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,083.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASML

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ASML by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,977,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,767,464,000 after purchasing an additional 105,196 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of ASML by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,719,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,668,386,000 after purchasing an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in ASML by 21.6% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 1,657,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,608,921,000 after buying an additional 294,784 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of ASML by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 1,617,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,224,002,000 after acquiring an additional 121,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,247,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $944,028,000 after purchasing an additional 32,623 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASML Stock Up 3.1 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $996.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $926.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $432.17 billion, a PE ratio of 55.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The semiconductor company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. ASML had a net margin of 27.23% and a return on equity of 56.99%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

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.