ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Stock Price Up 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) shares rose 3.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $690.51 and last traded at $690.05. Approximately 436,644 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,634,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $666.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ASML shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on ASML from $1,148.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded ASML from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $906.00.

ASML Stock Up 3.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $680.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $702.27. The company has a market cap of $271.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.67.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 47.73%. The firm had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.90 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 25.17 EPS for the current year.

ASML Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $1.6414 dividend. This represents a $6.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. ASML’s payout ratio is currently 27.48%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in ASML by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,208,615,000 after purchasing an additional 959,696 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,239,421,000 after acquiring an additional 31,231 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in ASML by 70,115.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,400,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,282,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398,805 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in ASML by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $868,324,000 after acquiring an additional 33,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in ASML by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $667,155,000 after purchasing an additional 13,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.