ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 1.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) rose 1.2% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $1,050.00 to $1,150.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. ASML traded as high as $978.46 and last traded at $977.83. Approximately 377,635 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,214,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $966.71.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of ASML from $850.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of ASML in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of ASML from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $982.60.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASML. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of ASML by 14.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 229,923 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $153,573,000 after buying an additional 29,290 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in ASML by 5.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,391 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,230,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in ASML by 13.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,266 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in ASML during the first quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in ASML by 35.2% during the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 426 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Trading Down 2.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $946.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $765.70. The stock has a market cap of $376.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.48.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.48. ASML had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 68.32%. The firm had revenue of $7.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.34 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.343 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $5.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.59%.

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.