Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,504,722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,672,155 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.51% of Analog Devices worth $1,594,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,105,529 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,432,961,000 after buying an additional 413,084 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter worth $1,755,958,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Analog Devices by 4.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 226,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADI opened at $201.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $99.97 billion, a PE ratio of 64.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. Analog Devices, Inc. has a twelve month low of $182.57 and a twelve month high of $247.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. Analog Devices had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This is an increase 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 has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ADI shares. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price target on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Analog Devices from $230.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In other news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.19, for a total value of $836,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,441,928.04. This trade represents a 7.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.49, for a total transaction of $2,154,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,737,116.67. The trade was a 31.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,684 shares of company stock valued at $7,746,500 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.