World Investment Advisors Raises Stock Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,336 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 5,156 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Analog Devices were worth $10,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Analog Devices by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,105,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,432,961,000 after buying an additional 413,084 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 106,664 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Analog Devices by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,612,183 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,248,971,000 after purchasing an additional 247,737 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Analog Devices by 14.9% during 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. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at $1,755,958,000. 86.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $230.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADI opened at $199.59 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.03. The company has a market capitalization of $98.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.56, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.57 and a 1-year high of $247.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is 126.11%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,175 shares in the company, valued at $9,066,750. This represents a 22.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total value 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. This represents a 13.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,684 shares of company stock worth $5,591,600 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently 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.