Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor 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 SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Texas Instruments by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,862,201 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,129,979,000 after purchasing an additional 458,853 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Texas Instruments by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,893,821 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,986,123,000 after purchasing an additional 839,964 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Texas Instruments by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,154,358 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,250,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,582 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Texas Instruments by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,095,428 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,764,284,000 after buying an additional 315,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Texas Instruments by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,035,704 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,028,846,000 after buying an additional 1,502,989 shares in the last quarter. 84.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on TXN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Texas Instruments from $137.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Texas Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Texas Instruments from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Texas Instruments from $138.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Texas Instruments from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Texas Instruments news, Director Robert E. Sanchez sold 10,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.97, for a total value of $1,844,008.83. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,580,061.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Richard K. Templeton sold 104,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.83, for a total transaction of $18,286,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 403,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,009,121.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert E. Sanchez sold 10,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.97, for a total transaction of $1,844,008.83. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,580,061.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,529 shares of company stock valued at $40,502,458 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Texas Instruments Stock Up 1.8 %

TXN traded up $3.11 on Friday, reaching $178.91. 4,545,090 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,059,944. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.81. Texas Instruments Incorporated has a 52-week low of $139.48 and a 52-week high of $188.12. The company has a market cap of $162.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 3.76.

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

Texas Instruments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Texas Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is 81.12%.

Texas Instruments 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.