First Eagle Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,856,553 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 953,284 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.58% of Analog Devices worth $606,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ADI. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Analog Devices in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in Analog Devices by 101.4% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices Stock Down 1.4 %

ADI opened at $203.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $101.08 billion, a PE ratio of 64.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.78.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. Analog Devices had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 16.75%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a boost from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.11%.

Analog Devices announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. 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 research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Analog Devices from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark increased their target price on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total transaction of $2,091,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices 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.