Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 80,384 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Analog Devices worth $57,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Analog Devices by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,105,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,432,961,000 after purchasing an additional 413,084 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Analog Devices by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,571,586 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,195,302,000 after buying an additional 106,664 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Analog Devices by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,364,446 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,377,094,000 after acquiring an additional 135,838 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Analog Devices by 14.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,176,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,169,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,940 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Analog Devices by 9.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,388,628 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,700,640,000 after acquiring an additional 665,149 shares during the last quarter. 86.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analog Devices Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ ADI opened at $212.34 on Tuesday. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.57 and a 52-week high of $247.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $217.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. 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 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 firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. Analog Devices’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a positive change from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Analog Devices’s payout ratio is 126.11%.

Analog Devices announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ADI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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. Benchmark raised their price target on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Maxim Group began coverage on Analog Devices in a report on Friday, February 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. 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 MarketBeat, Analog Devices currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.19, for a total value of $836,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 64,918 shares in the company, valued at $13,575,652.16. This represents a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,000 shares of company stock worth $5,082,860 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.