Ballentine Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC)

Ballentine Partners LLC reduced its stake in United Microelectronics Co. (NYSE:UMC) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,524 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 13,256 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in United Microelectronics were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in United Microelectronics by 682.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,248,227 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $45,974,000 after buying an additional 4,577,177 shares during the last quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of United Microelectronics by 12.2% in the third quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 4,353,325 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,655,000 after acquiring an additional 474,004 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of United Microelectronics by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,661,624 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,831,000 after acquiring an additional 53,105 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in United Microelectronics by 8.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,205,930 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,995,000 after purchasing an additional 240,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in United Microelectronics by 314.1% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,279,600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,774,000 after purchasing an additional 970,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

United Microelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UMC opened at $5.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.59. United Microelectronics Co. has a 52 week low of $5.70 and a 52 week high of $9.00.

United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. United Microelectronics had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 22.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Microelectronics Co. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on UMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $7.40 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of United Microelectronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of United Microelectronics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered United Microelectronics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Microelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.40.

United Microelectronics Company Profile

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers.