Ithaka Group LLC Sells 778 Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Ithaka Group LLC cut its position in shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,058 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 778 shares during the quarter. ASML accounts for about 2.7% of Ithaka Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in ASML were worth $14,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank boosted its position in ASML by 1.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 975 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in ASML by 1.1% during the second quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in ASML by 2.8% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in ASML by 1.1% during the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 1,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders boosted its position in ASML by 0.6% during the second quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ASML shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on ASML from $1,052.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank raised ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASML opened at $670.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $263.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $747.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $875.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $645.45 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. Research analysts anticipate that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.21%.

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.