BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 293,528 Shares of United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 892,659 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 293,528 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $5,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UMC. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in United Microelectronics by 238.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,184,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,244,574 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in United Microelectronics in the 4th quarter worth $12,768,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 150.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,021,849 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215,849 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 958.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 982,840 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,379,000 after purchasing an additional 889,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,947,754 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $103,501,000 after buying an additional 750,472 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of United Microelectronics from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush lowered United Microelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:UMC traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $7.84. 4,509,288 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,648,376. The company has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.76. United Microelectronics Co. has a one year low of $5.61 and a one year high of $9.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.64.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.01). United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that United Microelectronics Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

United Microelectronics Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.