Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 65.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,053 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Analog Devices by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 433,696 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $92,150,000 after acquiring an additional 79,648 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in Analog Devices by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Analog Devices by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,891,194 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $401,803,000 after acquiring an additional 47,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Analog Devices by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,287 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Analog Devices Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADI opened at $164.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.64 billion, a PE ratio of 52.42, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $213.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.31. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.14 and a 1-year high of $247.10. 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 (NASDAQ:ADI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. 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 126.11%.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $836,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,066,750. This represents a 22.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,684 shares of company stock worth $5,591,600. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Lake Street Capital started coverage on Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Williams Trading set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.41.

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.