First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stock Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,367,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 84,723 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.28% of Analog Devices worth $290,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analog Devices Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADI opened at $176.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.33. 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 $87.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.99 dividend. This is an increase from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.11%.

Analog Devices announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Analog Devices has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of Analog Devices 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 64,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,575,652.16. The trade was a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $2,663,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,175 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 29,809 shares of company stock worth $6,154,756 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.