Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) Given New $240.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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 declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 9.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is an increase from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.49, for a total transaction of $2,154,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,737,116.67. This trade represents a 31.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Analog Devices

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADI. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Analog Devices by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 741,899 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $157,624,000 after acquiring an additional 46,539 shares during the last quarter. Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Analog Devices in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,743,000. Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new position in Analog Devices in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Analog Devices during the fourth quarter valued at $19,984,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Analog Devices during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. 86.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.