Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,895 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 121,986 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.06% of Analog Devices worth $66,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADI. Curbstone Financial Management Corp purchased a new stake in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at $460,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Analog Devices by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,650 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,871,000 after buying an additional 6,566 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Analog Devices by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Analog Devices during the third quarter worth about $20,194,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Analog Devices by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 86.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Analog Devices

In other news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.19, for a total transaction of $836,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 49,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,441,928.04. The trade was a 7.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total value of $2,091,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,575,652.16. This trade represents a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,684 shares of company stock worth $7,746,500. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

Shares of ADI stock opened at $208.94 on Friday. 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 $103.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.54, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $216.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.64.

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

Analog Devices announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ADI. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Analog Devices has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.41.

Analog Devices Company 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.