Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,570,492 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,269,024 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.72% of Analog Devices worth $758,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Bank grew its position in shares of Analog Devices by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,056 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Analog Devices by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Analog Devices in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,198,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Analog Devices in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,045,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 16.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 43,349 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,164 shares in the last quarter. 86.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In related news, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $2,663,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,066,750. The trade was a 22.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 64,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,575,652.16. The trade was a 13.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,684 shares of company stock valued at $5,591,600. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

Shares of ADI stock opened at $164.60 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $213.22 and its 200 day moving average is $218.28. The company has a market capitalization of $81.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. Analog Devices, Inc. has a one year low of $159.66 and a one year high of $247.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.93.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices’s payout ratio is 126.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ADI shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.41.

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.