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

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 4,570 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the average daily volume of 2,928 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.50 to $45.80 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in STMicroelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,280,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 36.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,604 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after purchasing an additional 15,985 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in STMicroelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth $381,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 50.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 47,425 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $1,903,000 after acquiring an additional 15,870 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

STMicroelectronics Stock Up 4.1 %

STMicroelectronics stock traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $29.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,483,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,782,648. The company has a market capitalization of $26.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.58. STMicroelectronics has a 12 month low of $27.44 and a 12 month high of $51.27. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.35.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. STMicroelectronics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.95%.

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.