STMicroelectronics Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:STM)

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 5,152 call options on the company. This is an increase of 30% compared to the average volume of 3,975 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 148.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,650,244 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $124,055,000 after buying an additional 3,375,428 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in STMicroelectronics during the first quarter valued at $918,000. Curi RMB Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 1st quarter worth $2,356,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 1st quarter worth $150,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 182.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 32,094 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 20,745 shares in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on STM shares. Morgan Stanley raised STMicroelectronics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upped their price target on STMicroelectronics from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.97.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

NYSE:STM opened at $28.42 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.21. STMicroelectronics has a twelve month low of $17.25 and a twelve month high of $45.39. The stock has a market cap of $25.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. As a group, equities analysts predict that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is 25.42%.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments.