Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Boosts Stake in Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 941,630 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,723 shares during the period. Analog Devices accounts for about 3.3% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. owned about 0.19% of Analog Devices worth $200,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Analog Devices by 16.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 43,349 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,164 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its position in Analog Devices by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 974 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Analog Devices by 4.1% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,261 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Analog Devices by 33.2% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,485 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in shares of Analog Devices by 0.9% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,680 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADI has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Analog Devices from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Analog Devices in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Analog Devices from $275.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Analog Devices has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.05.

Insider Activity

In other Analog Devices news, Director Ray Stata sold 3,125 shares of Analog Devices stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.21, for a total value of $563,156.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 186,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,576,907.41. The trade was a 1.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vivek Jain sold 12,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $2,663,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,066,750. This represents a 22.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,809 shares of company stock worth $6,154,756 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

Analog Devices stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $176.27. The stock had a trading volume of 3,341,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,462,507. The company has a market capitalization of $87.43 billion, a PE ratio of 56.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. Analog Devices, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.65 and a 52-week high of $247.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $206.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 16.75%. Analog Devices's revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Analog Devices, Inc. will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Analog Devices Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Analog Devices's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.11%.

Analog Devices announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.