ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ASML. Wall Street Zen downgraded ASML from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ASML in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of ASML in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on ASML from $1,625.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of ASML from $1,813.00 to $2,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,589.63.

ASML Trading Down 6.6%

ASML stock opened at $1,641.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $645.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.89, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.82. ASML has a one year low of $683.48 and a one year high of $1,779.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,490.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,341.23.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.28 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $10.15 billion for the quarter. ASML had a net margin of 27.65% and a return on equity of 48.69%. On average, analysts forecast that ASML will post 37.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ASML

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ASML by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,597,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the period. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of ASML in the first quarter valued at $214,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ASML by 40.9% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,208,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares in the last quarter. Lavelle Capital LP bought a new position in ASML in the first quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Blue Fin Capital Inc. lifted its position in ASML by 22.3% in the first quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 538 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.