Analog Devices’ (ADI) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on ADI. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on 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 upped their price target on Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.19.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

Shares of ADI opened at $243.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.97. Analog Devices has a 12 month low of $182.57 and a 12 month high of $247.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.04.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. Analog Devices had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 17.35%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Analog Devices will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Analog Devices announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This is a boost from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is 111.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In other news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.83, for a total value of $2,158,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,744,590.89. This represents a 31.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Analog Devices

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ADI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Analog Devices during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,755,958,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Analog Devices in the fourth quarter worth about $833,386,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Analog Devices by 22,005.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,073,252 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $652,943,000 after buying an additional 3,059,349 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Analog Devices by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,176,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,169,689,000 after buying an additional 1,189,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Analog Devices by 301.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,581,157 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $335,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.81% 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.