Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Holdings in STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,849,100 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after selling 346,421 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.87% of STMicroelectronics worth $195,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STM. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of STMicroelectronics by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 66,113 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 6,509 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 13,945 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,760 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,668 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in STMicroelectronics by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 192,372 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $5,719,000 after acquiring an additional 38,874 shares during the period. 5.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on STM shares. TD Cowen cut shares of STMicroelectronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective 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. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of STMicroelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of STMicroelectronics from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of STMicroelectronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Price Performance

STM traded up $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.46. 3,040,415 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,889,511. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.11. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $21.36 and a 12-month high of $49.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.00. The company has a market cap of $22.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.51.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 8.92%. On average, equities analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

STMicroelectronics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $0.09 dividend. 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 1.47%. STMicroelectronics's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.67%.

STMicroelectronics Profile

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.