Banco Santander S.A. Boosts Holdings in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 989 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Analog Devices were worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ADI. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Analog Devices during the third quarter worth $28,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Analog Devices during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Analog Devices by 101.4% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Analog Devices during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Analog Devices during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 86.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ADI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $250.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 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 target on shares of Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.41.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

ADI stock opened at $225.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $112.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.93, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.17. Analog Devices, Inc. has a one year low of $182.57 and a one 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.

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

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a positive change from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.11%.

Analog Devices declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Analog Devices

In related news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.49, for a total value of $2,154,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,737,116.67. This trade represents a 31.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Analog Devices

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.