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

STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 7,561 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average daily volume of 5,248 call options.

STMicroelectronics Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE STM traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.68. 2,012,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,260,405. The company has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.25 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.90. STMicroelectronics has a 52 week low of $17.25 and a 52 week high of $35.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a current ratio of 3.36.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.16). STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 2.70% and a net margin of 1.41%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Research analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STM. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 33,863 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,199,951 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $134,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 558,730 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $14,532,000 after purchasing an additional 60,418 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,763 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $442,000. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $28.00 price target on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.93.

About STMicroelectronics

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.