Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) Initiates Stock Buyback Plan

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analog Devices Stock Performance

ADI opened at $243.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.11, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.04. Analog Devices has a fifty-two week low of $182.57 and a fifty-two week high of $247.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $215.06 and a 200 day moving average of $219.97.

Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. Analog Devices had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 17.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Analog Devices will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is an increase from Analog Devices’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Analog Devices’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADI has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Analog Devices from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Analog Devices in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.19.

Insider Activity at Analog Devices

In other Analog Devices news, CEO Vincent Roche sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.83, for a total transaction of $2,158,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,744,590.89. The trade was a 31.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.