AQR Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI - Free Report) by 68.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,682 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 126,245 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Analog Devices were worth $12,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Broderick Brian C raised its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 79,221 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $16,831,000 after buying an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp purchased a new stake in Analog Devices during the fourth quarter worth about $460,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,554 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ADI. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $265.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $240.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Analog Devices currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $250.43.

Analog Devices Price Performance

Analog Devices stock opened at $197.72 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $158.65 and a one year high of $247.10. The company has a market cap of $98.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $198.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.15.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Analog Devices had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a boost from Analog Devices's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices's dividend payout ratio is 126.11%.

Analog Devices declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Richard C. Puccio, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.19, for a total transaction of $836,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,916 shares in the company, valued at $10,441,928.04. The trade was a 7.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.84, for a total transaction of $1,968,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,996 shares in the company, valued at $28,147,332.64. The trade was a 6.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,809 shares of company stock valued at $8,123,156. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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