STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) Short Interest Down 14.4% in February

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STM. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in STMicroelectronics by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,682 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in STMicroelectronics by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 68,885 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of STMicroelectronics by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,183 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,280 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in STMicroelectronics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 68,573 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $2,039,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded STMicroelectronics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America cut STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of STMicroelectronics in a report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on STMicroelectronics from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen cut STMicroelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $25.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.26.

STMicroelectronics Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of STM traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,051,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,774,906. STMicroelectronics has a 12-month low of $21.36 and a 12-month high of $45.39. The firm has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 3.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.18.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. STMicroelectronics had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 11.74%. Equities research analysts forecast 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.