HighTower Advisors LLC Has $325,000 Holdings in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Free Report) by 93.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,009 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after selling 156,161 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in STMicroelectronics were worth $325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STM. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 26.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,195,521 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $228,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,257 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 177.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,311,888 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $90,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478,213 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,564,232 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $61,443,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 128.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 648,403 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $25,469,000 after acquiring an additional 364,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics by 6.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 469,669 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $18,449,000 after purchasing an additional 28,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company's stock.

STMicroelectronics Stock Performance

STMicroelectronics stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,654,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,158,208. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.28 and a 200-day moving average of $31.27. STMicroelectronics has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $50.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.53.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 16.11%. STMicroelectronics's revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STMicroelectronics will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. STMicroelectronics's dividend payout ratio is 14.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upgraded STMicroelectronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of STMicroelectronics from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, STMicroelectronics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.26.

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.