KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $42.33 Million in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 199,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,326,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADI. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Analog Devices by 6.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,894,109 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $666,137,000 after buying an additional 180,870 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in shares of Analog Devices by 4.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,056 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 2.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 25,336 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,832,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Analog Devices during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Analog Devices by 48.2% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. 86.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Analog Devices currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.19, for a total value of $836,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,441,928.04. This represents a 7.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,082,860 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analog Devices Price Performance

ADI opened at $204.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $101.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $217.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.84. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.57 and a 1 year high of $247.10.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is 126.11%.

Analog Devices announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.