STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,330,000 shares, a decline of 14.4% from the February 13th total of 16,740,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut STMicroelectronics from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised STMicroelectronics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on STMicroelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.26.

Institutional Trading of STMicroelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in STMicroelectronics by 131.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,413,356 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,088 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 576.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,920,774 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $47,962,000 after buying an additional 1,636,707 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 674.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,396,700 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $41,524,000 after buying an additional 1,216,300 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,616 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $83,165,000 after buying an additional 938,097 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,767,787 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $44,142,000 after buying an additional 858,624 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

STMicroelectronics Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of STMicroelectronics stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,219,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,781,539. STMicroelectronics has a 12 month low of $21.36 and a 12 month high of $45.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.18. The stock has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About STMicroelectronics

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.