ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Downgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ASML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of ASML from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays raised shares of ASML from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of ASML from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $1,147.80.

ASML Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of ASML opened at $795.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $870.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $939.86. ASML has a 12-month low of $563.99 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that ASML will post 20.38 EPS for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $1.8732 dividend. This is an increase from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. ASML’s payout ratio is 28.50%.

Institutional Trading of ASML

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASML. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in ASML during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new stake in shares of ASML during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in ASML in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in ASML during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.