Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV Takes Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,063,000. Analog Devices makes up approximately 1.0% of Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Analog Devices during the 4th quarter worth about $1,755,958,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Analog Devices in the 4th quarter worth about $833,386,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Analog Devices by 22,005.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,073,252 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $652,943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059,349 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,169,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,940 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,470,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price target on Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. 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 research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

Shares of ADI opened at $199.18 on Wednesday. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.57 and a 1 year high of $247.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.79 billion, a PE ratio of 63.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.17.

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

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change 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 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In related news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,441,928.04. This trade represents a 7.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $2,663,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,066,750. This trade represents a 22.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,684 shares of company stock worth $7,746,500 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.