Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,379,167 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 110,359 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $293,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Curbstone Financial Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Analog Devices during the fourth quarter worth approximately $460,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,650 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,871,000 after buying an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Analog Devices by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Analog Devices in the third quarter worth about $20,194,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in Analog Devices by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the company’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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $10,441,928.04. The trade was a 7.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,684 shares of company stock worth $7,746,500. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ADI shares. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on Analog Devices in a research report on Friday, February 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Analog Devices has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADI opened at $208.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $103.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.54, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.64. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.57 and a 12-month high of $247.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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 8.91% and a net margin of 16.75%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. Analog Devices’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analog Devices announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.99 dividend. 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. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.11%.

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.