Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,504,722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,672,155 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $1,594,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in Analog Devices by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 9,296 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Portland Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Analog Devices by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Analog Devices by 2.7% in the 4th 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 raised its position in Analog Devices by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 12,509 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 142 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Williams Trading set a $245.00 target price on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Analog Devices from $230.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Analog Devices Trading Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ ADI opened at $201.56 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.57 and a 1-year high of $247.10. The company has a market capitalization of $99.97 billion, a PE ratio of 64.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07.

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 business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Analog Devices had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 16.75%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.11%.

Insider Activity at Analog Devices

In other news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 49,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,441,928.04. This trade represents a 7.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,066,750. This represents a 22.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,684 shares of company stock valued at $7,746,500. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.