Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Reduces Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its holdings in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,682 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 542 shares during the period. Analog Devices makes up 1.4% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $17,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Analog Devices by 0.5% in the third 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 lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $2,377,094,000 after acquiring an additional 135,838 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,189,940 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Analog Devices by 9.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,388,628 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,700,640,000 after acquiring an additional 665,149 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,058,364,000 after acquiring an additional 226,716 shares during the period. 86.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Analog Devices from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Benchmark raised their price objective on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price objective on Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Maxim Group initiated coverage on Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADI opened at $225.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.02 billion, a PE ratio of 71.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.21. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.57 and a 1-year high of $247.10.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. 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 of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In other news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.49, for a total value of $2,154,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,737,116.67. The trade was a 31.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.