We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article, we look at what those funds think of ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML) based on that data.
ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW), and Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) to gather more data points.
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At the moment there are a multitude of indicators stock market investors have at their disposal to value their holdings. A pair of the less known indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy amount (see the details here).
Now, we’re going to review the new action surrounding ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML).
What have hedge funds been doing with ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a drop of 31% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the largest position in ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML). According to its latest quarterly report, the fund has a $57.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, which holds a $47.5 million position; 1.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Seeing as ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML) has experienced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there were a few funds that elected to cut their positions entirely in the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital sold off the largest investment of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $110 million in stock. Peter Muller’s fund, PDT Partners, also sold off its stock, about $4.5 million worth of. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in the third quarter.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML) but similarly valued. These stocks are Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW), Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA), and The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble ASML’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| PYPL | 87 | 4942535 | 87 |
| SCHW | 48 | 3101940 | 2 |
| LBTYA | 64 | 2185240 | -6 |
| BX | 34 | 406116 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 58 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2.66 billion. That figure was a meager $138 million in ASML’s case. Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) is leading the popularity contest, while The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) is the outsider with only 34 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML) is even less popular than BX. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.
