Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Stock Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,895 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 121,986 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $66,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 9,296 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in 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. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Analog Devices by 0.8% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 86.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analog Devices Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADI opened at $208.94 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $216.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.64. The stock has a market cap of $103.63 billion, a PE ratio of 66.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. Analog Devices, Inc. has a one year low of $182.57 and a one year high of $247.10.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. 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 payout ratio is currently 126.11%.

Analog Devices declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Maxim Group assumed coverage on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Insider Activity at Analog Devices

In related news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total transaction of $2,091,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,575,652.16. This represents a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,441,928.04. The trade was a 7.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,684 shares of company stock valued at $7,746,500. 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.