Rafferty Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in United Microelectronics Corporation $UMC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) by 26.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,220,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,182,363 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.25% of United Microelectronics worth $47,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $24,024,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,655,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $40,438,000 after purchasing an additional 537,777 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,689,542 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,925,000 after purchasing an additional 428,522 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of United Microelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,427,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of United Microelectronics by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,668,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,767,000 after purchasing an additional 302,617 shares during the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UMC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised United Microelectronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of United Microelectronics in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Microelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.60.

United Microelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of UMC stock opened at $10.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.34. United Microelectronics Corporation has a 1 year low of $5.71 and a 1 year high of $12.68. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.10.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 17.60%.The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Analysts predict that United Microelectronics Corporation will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is a Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related manufacturing services to a global customer base. Founded in 1980, the company operates as a pure-play foundry, producing integrated circuits for a range of customers including fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers. UMC is publicly listed (NYSE: UMC) and focuses on high-reliability manufacturing rather than branding consumer products.

UMC’s core services encompass wafer fabrication using a portfolio of process technologies, with particular emphasis on mature and specialty nodes that support analog, power-management, radio-frequency (RF), and mixed-signal applications.