Sapient Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 210 ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ASML in the first quarter valued at $26,000. WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in ASML in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC increased its stake in ASML by 110.0% in the 1st quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

ASML Price Performance

NASDAQ ASML traded down $1.96 on Monday, hitting $858.59. The company had a trading volume of 772,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,024. The company has a market capitalization of $338.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.83, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $985.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $954.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.84. ASML Holding has a 12-month low of $563.99 and a 12-month high of $1,110.09.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The semiconductor company reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. ASML had a net margin of 26.50% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that ASML Holding will post 20.3 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $1.8732 per share. This represents a $7.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This is a boost from ASML’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.34. ASML’s payout ratio is 28.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of ASML from $1,172.00 to $1,202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ASML from $1,150.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Susquehanna raised their price target 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. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of ASML in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of ASML from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,147.80.

About ASML

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.