Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys New Stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 48,064 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $10,212,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,105,529 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $10,432,961,000 after acquiring an additional 413,084 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Analog Devices by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,612,183 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,248,971,000 after purchasing an additional 247,737 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Analog Devices by 14.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,176,877 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,169,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189,940 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Analog Devices during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,755,958,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Analog Devices by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,450,018 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,582,831,000 after purchasing an additional 61,390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company's stock.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADI traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $197.72. 2,022,494 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,475,520. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $198.79 and a 200 day moving average of $211.37. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.65 and a 1 year high of $247.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.98.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm's revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Analog Devices's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices's payout ratio is currently 126.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In other Analog Devices news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.12, for a total transaction of $2,091,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,575,652.16. This trade represents a 13.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $9,066,750. This trade represents a 22.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,809 shares of company stock valued at $8,123,156. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Analog Devices from $240.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Lake Street Capital started coverage on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Friday, February 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $214.00 target price on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Analog Devices presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $250.43.

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.