Raymond James & Associates Has $5.72 Million Position in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Free Report) by 25.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,372 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after buying an additional 38,874 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates' holdings in STMicroelectronics were worth $5,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in STMicroelectronics by 144.2% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in STMicroelectronics in the second quarter worth $51,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in STMicroelectronics during the second quarter worth $72,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the 1st quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in STMicroelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

Shares of STMicroelectronics stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,813,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,951,737. STMicroelectronics has a one year low of $26.44 and a one year high of $51.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.57.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 18.18%. The company's revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that STMicroelectronics will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. STMicroelectronics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STM. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on STMicroelectronics from $54.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised STMicroelectronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, STMicroelectronics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.63.

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.