Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) Shares Break Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)’s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $279.80 and traded as high as $297.80. Texas Instruments shares last traded at $295.73, with a volume of 10,278,210 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on TXN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Texas Instruments from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Texas Instruments from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Texas Instruments from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Texas Instruments from $380.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Texas Instruments from $340.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.37.

Texas Instruments Stock Up 6.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a current ratio of 5.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.39.

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The semiconductor company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. Texas Instruments had a net margin of 34.25% and a return on equity of 40.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Texas Instruments Incorporated will post 8.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Texas Instruments Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Texas Instruments’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Texas Instruments’s payout ratio is presently 78.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet Clark sold 4,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,302,392.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,430,198.86. This trade represents a 27.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald Kirk sold 6,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.39, for a total value of $1,882,515.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,799,250.18. This represents a 28.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $8,236,892 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Texas Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TXN. MSH Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Texas Instruments by 4.0% in the third quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Texas Instruments by 10.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Texas Instruments by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 19,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department increased its position in Texas Instruments by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 17,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,937,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Texas Instruments by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the period. 84.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Texas Instruments Company Profile

Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) designs and manufactures analog and embedded semiconductor products used in industrial, automotive, personal electronics, communications equipment, and enterprise systems. Its analog products help manage power, sense and measure real-world signals, and support signal processing, while its embedded processing products provide computing and control functions within electronic systems.

The company offers a broad portfolio of semiconductors, including power-management devices, amplifiers, data converters, microcontrollers, processors, and connectivity products.