Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) Cut to "Hold" at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $175.00 price target on the semiconductor company's stock, down from their prior price target of $200.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Texas Instruments in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Texas Instruments from $138.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Benchmark restated a buy rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Texas Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Texas Instruments from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Texas Instruments from $213.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $180.60.

Texas Instruments Price Performance

Texas Instruments stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $187.82. 3,684,766 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,631,853. The company's fifty day moving average is $172.48 and its 200-day moving average is $164.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 3.76 and a current ratio of 4.91. The firm has a market cap of $171.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.01. Texas Instruments has a 52 week low of $139.48 and a 52 week high of $188.38.

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Texas Instruments had a net margin of 35.16% and a return on equity of 35.28%. Texas Instruments's revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Texas Instruments will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Texas Instruments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Texas Instruments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Pamela H. Patsley sold 9,990 shares of Texas Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.12, for a total transaction of $1,789,408.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,973,293.76. The sale 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 100,440 shares of Texas Instruments stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.47, for a total transaction of $17,925,526.80. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 403,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,075,287.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela H. Patsley sold 9,990 shares of Texas Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.12, for a total transaction of $1,789,408.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,973,293.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 328,969 shares of company stock valued at $58,427,984 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Texas Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TXN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Texas Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $1,649,592,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Texas Instruments by 54.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,606,825 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $976,765,000 after buying an additional 1,972,304 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Texas Instruments by 14.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,154,358 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,250,685,000 after buying an additional 1,755,582 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Texas Instruments by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,035,704 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,028,846,000 after buying an additional 1,502,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Texas Instruments by 565.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,693,577 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $288,687,000 after buying an additional 1,439,066 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.99% of the company's stock.

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.