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

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 5,152 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 30% compared to the average daily volume of 3,975 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STM. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 148.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,650,244 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $124,055,000 after buying an additional 3,375,428 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 188.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,093,785 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $111,860,000 after buying an additional 3,325,998 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 131.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $85,232,000 after buying an additional 1,939,088 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 576.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $47,962,000 after buying an additional 1,636,707 shares during the period. Finally, Analog Century Management LP purchased a new position in STMicroelectronics during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,912,000. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STMicroelectronics Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:STM traded down $0.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.28. 10,635,415 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,865,984. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $22.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.21. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $17.25 and a 12-month high of $45.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.37.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. On average, research analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Dbs Bank cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.97.

About STMicroelectronics

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.