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

Ithaka Group LLC cut its position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 holdings, 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.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASML. Taurus Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ASML during the 3rd quarter worth $16,994,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in ASML by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in ASML by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in ASML by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its position in ASML by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ASML shares. Susquehanna lowered 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lowered ASML from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays raised ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $970.60.

ASML Price Performance

ASML stock opened at $670.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $263.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.55. ASML Holding has a 52-week low of $645.45 and a 52-week high of $1,110.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $747.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $875.74.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. Research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were paid a $1.407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. This represents a $5.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. ASML’s payout ratio 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.