Merit Financial Group LLC Decreases Position in Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,788 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,992 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Texas Instruments were worth $3,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Texas Instruments by 4.8% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,309 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC grew its stake in Texas Instruments by 2.1% in the third quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 9,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Texas Instruments by 2.7% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,544 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC grew its stake in Texas Instruments by 6.0% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 4,278 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new position in Texas Instruments in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. 84.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TXN. Barclays dropped their price objective on Texas Instruments from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Texas Instruments from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Texas Instruments from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Texas Instruments in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Texas Instruments in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.74.

Texas Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ TXN traded up $3.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $178.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,545,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,059,944. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.01. Texas Instruments Incorporated has a 1-year low of $139.48 and a 1-year high of $188.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 3.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $170.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.81.

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.13. Texas Instruments had a return on equity of 35.28% and a net margin of 35.16%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. Texas Instruments’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Texas Instruments Incorporated will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Texas Instruments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Texas Instruments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert E. Sanchez sold 10,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.97, for a total value of $1,844,008.83. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,461 shares in the company, valued at $3,580,061.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Texas Instruments news, Director Robert E. Sanchez sold 10,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.97, for a total transaction of $1,844,008.83. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,461 shares in the company, valued at $3,580,061.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard K. Templeton sold 104,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.68, for a total value of $18,582,720.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 403,851 shares in the company, valued at $72,160,096.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,529 shares of company stock worth $40,502,458 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Texas Instruments Company Profile

Texas Instruments Incorporated designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Analog and Embedded Processing segments. The Analog segment offers power products to manage power requirements across various voltage levels, including battery-management solutions, DC/DC switching regulators, AC/DC and isolated controllers and converters, power switches, linear regulators, voltage references, and lighting products.