Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,132 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 6,678 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $19,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADI. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,571,586 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,195,302,000 after acquiring an additional 106,664 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,377,094,000 after acquiring an additional 135,838 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 9.9% in 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,981,475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,058,364,000 after acquiring an additional 226,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ADI shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their price target 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, Benchmark upped their price target on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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, Analog Devices presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ ADI opened at $228.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.14. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.57 and a 52 week high of $247.10. The company has a market capitalization of $113.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.04.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last released its earnings results 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 last year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.11%.

Analog Devices declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.49, for a total transaction of $2,154,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 21,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,737,116.67. This trade represents a 31.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.