Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) Hits New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $247.10 and last traded at $245.78, with a volume of 843178 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $241.66.

The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Analog Devices had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 16.75%. The business's revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 EPS.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.99 dividend. This is an increase from Analog Devices's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Analog Devices's payout ratio is presently 126.11%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Analog Devices in a research note on Thursday. 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 note on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Analog Devices news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 21,983 shares in the company, valued at $4,737,116.67. This represents a 31.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Analog Devices

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $10,432,961,000 after purchasing an additional 413,084 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Analog Devices by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,571,586 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,195,302,000 after purchasing an additional 106,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Analog Devices by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,612,183 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,248,971,000 after purchasing an additional 247,737 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Analog Devices by 14.9% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Analog Devices in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,755,958,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company's stock.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $118.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.24.

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.