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

STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 16,746 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the average volume of 11,169 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on STM shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded STMicroelectronics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho set a $48.00 price objective on STMicroelectronics and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 target price on STMicroelectronics in a report on Friday, April 24th. Craig Hallum upgraded STMicroelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.07.

STMicroelectronics Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of STM stock opened at $64.47 on Friday. STMicroelectronics has a 1 year low of $21.11 and a 1 year high of $65.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.90 billion, a PE ratio of 402.93 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 3.31.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, March 28th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 3.01% and a net margin of 1.19%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STMicroelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,532,428 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $273,211,000 after buying an additional 1,145,426 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,156,161 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $159,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,113 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,199,951 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $134,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,348,569 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $132,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in STMicroelectronics by 19.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,990,874 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $112,782,000 after purchasing an additional 641,327 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics is a global semiconductor company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, formed through the 1987 merger of SGS Microelettronica and Thomson Semiconducteurs. The company designs, develops and manufactures a broad range of semiconductor products and solutions that serve multiple end markets worldwide. ST’s offerings span from basic components to integrated systems, emphasizing energy-efficient and high-performance devices for modern electronics.

Product categories include microcontrollers (notably the widely used STM32 family), analog and mixed-signal ICs, power MOSFETs and power-management devices, MEMS and sensors, image sensors, and discrete semiconductors.