Investors Buy High Volume of STMicroelectronics Call Options (NYSE:STM)

STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 32,454 call options on the company. This is an increase of 51% compared to the typical daily volume of 21,427 call options.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STM traded down $1.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $51.10. 2,648,606 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,126,683. The company has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 100.13 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.88. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $21.11 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 3.56%. On average, analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 173.0% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,103 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after purchasing an additional 24,780 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in STMicroelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Revere Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in STMicroelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth $8,437,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in STMicroelectronics by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,929 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 3,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of STMicroelectronics during the second quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on STM. Barclays set a $60.00 price objective on STMicroelectronics in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on STMicroelectronics in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Bank of America upgraded STMicroelectronics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics from $67.50 to $60.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.17.

STMicroelectronics Company Profile

STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE: STM) is a global semiconductor company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of integrated circuits and electronic components. Its products are used in automotive systems, industrial equipment, personal electronics, communications infrastructure and other embedded applications.

The company’s portfolio includes microcontrollers and microprocessors, analog and mixed-signal devices, power semiconductors, sensors, MEMS devices, connectivity products and automotive semiconductors.