Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Sells 19,100 Shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. decreased its position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 79,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 19,100 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $16,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Analog Devices in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 142 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Analog Devices in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Analog Devices in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices Price Performance

Shares of Analog Devices stock opened at $205.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $102.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.57, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 moving average price of $217.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.05. Analog Devices, Inc. has a one year low of $182.57 and a one year high of $247.10.

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 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 analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. Analog Devices’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a positive change 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 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.11%.

Analog Devices announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ADI shares. Lake Street Capital started coverage on Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised 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. 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. Finally, Maxim Group began coverage on Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Analog Devices news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.19, for a total transaction of $836,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,441,928.04. The trade was a 7.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total value of $2,091,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,575,652.16. This trade represents a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,082,860. 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.