FIL Ltd Sells 9,651 Shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

FIL Ltd cut its position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 212,731 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,651 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $45,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,105,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,432,961,000 after acquiring an additional 413,084 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Analog Devices by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,612,183 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,248,971,000 after purchasing an additional 247,737 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Analog Devices by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,176,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,169,689,000 after buying an additional 1,189,940 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Analog Devices during the 4th quarter worth $1,755,958,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Analog Devices by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,450,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,582,831,000 after acquiring an additional 61,390 shares during the period. 86.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ADI. Benchmark boosted their price target on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price target on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Lake Street Capital began coverage on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADI opened at $178.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.37. Analog Devices, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.65 and a twelve month high of $247.10. The company has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.80, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. Analog Devices had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Analog Devices’s payout ratio is 126.11%.

Analog Devices declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Analog Devices

In other news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total transaction of $2,091,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,575,652.16. This represents a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $2,663,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,175 shares in the company, valued at $9,066,750. This trade represents a 22.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,684 shares of company stock worth $5,591,600 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices Profile

Analog Devices, Inc designs, manufactures, tests, and markets integrated circuits (ICs), software, and subsystems products in the United States, rest of North and South America, Europe, Japan, China, and rest of Asia. The company provides data converter products, which translate real-world analog signals into digital data, as well as translates digital data into analog signals; power management and reference products for power conversion, driver monitoring, sequencing, and energy management applications in the automotive, communications, industrial, and consumer markets; and power ICs that include performance, integration, and software design simulation tools for accurate power supply designs.