Investors Buy Large Volume of STMicroelectronics Put Options (NYSE:STM)

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 4,570 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,928 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on STM shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Craig Hallum reduced their target price on STMicroelectronics from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered STMicroelectronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.13.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of STMicroelectronics stock opened at $27.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.16, a P/E/G 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.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 18.18%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. STMicroelectronics’s quarterly revenue was down 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. STMicroelectronics’s payout ratio is currently 7.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STM. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 11.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,476,264 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $254,388,000 after acquiring an additional 675,353 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,132,920 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $135,467,000 after purchasing an additional 74,519 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,369,273 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $118,772,000 after buying an additional 120,399 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 177.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,311,888 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $90,806,000 after buying an additional 1,478,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 1,615,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $80,991,000 after buying an additional 129,772 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.