Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 73.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 10,625 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADI. Bank of Hawaii raised its position in shares of Analog Devices by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC raised its position in Analog Devices by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Analog Devices by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 12,509 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 86.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analog Devices Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Analog Devices stock opened at $228.53 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.14. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.57 and a 12-month high of $247.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $113.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.78, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Analog Devices declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 1.73%. Analog Devices’s payout ratio is currently 126.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.49, for a total transaction of $2,154,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,737,116.67. This trade represents a 31.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark boosted their target price on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.41.

About Analog Devices

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.