Lazard Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) by 30.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 464,079 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 206,721 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Texas Instruments were worth $80,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Texas Instruments by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,572,576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,778,648,000 after buying an additional 536,206 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Texas Instruments by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 28,715,467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,002,522,000 after buying an additional 1,279,828 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Texas Instruments by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,048,334 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,398,637,000 after buying an additional 1,154,513 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Texas Instruments by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,928,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,033,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Texas Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,649,592,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard K. Templeton sold 104,000 shares of Texas Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.68, for a total transaction of $18,582,720.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 403,851 shares in the company, valued at $72,160,096.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Richard K. Templeton sold 104,000 shares of Texas Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.68, for a total transaction of $18,582,720.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 403,851 shares in the company, valued at $72,160,096.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert E. Sanchez sold 10,539 shares of Texas Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.97, for a total transaction of $1,844,008.83. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,580,061.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 328,969 shares of company stock worth $58,427,984 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Texas Instruments Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ TXN traded up $4.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,384,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,994,019. Texas Instruments Incorporated has a 52-week low of $139.48 and a 52-week high of $210.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $198.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 4.62 and a quick ratio of 3.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.99.

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.06. Texas Instruments had a net margin of 33.01% and a return on equity of 31.10%. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Texas Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Texas Instruments Incorporated will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Texas Instruments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Texas Instruments’s payout ratio is 81.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Texas Instruments from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Texas Instruments from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Texas Instruments in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Texas Instruments from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Texas Instruments from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Texas Instruments has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.64.

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments Incorporated designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Analog and Embedded Processing segments. The Analog segment offers power products to manage power requirements across various voltage levels, including battery-management solutions, DC/DC switching regulators, AC/DC and isolated controllers and converters, power switches, linear regulators, voltage references, and lighting products.