Manhattan Associates Inc. (MANH), Linear Technology Corporation (LLTC) and Sherwin-Williams Co (SHW) Had Insiders Sell Shares This Past Week

This Analog Chipmaker Saw Two Executives Sell Shares Lately

Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) had two executives sell shares in the past several trading sessions. To begin with, Paul V. Chantalat, Vice President of Quality and Reliability, discarded 15,000 shares on Monday at $45.91 apiece, which trimmed his ownership to 63,255 shares. Moreover, David A. Quarles, Vice President of International Sales, offloaded 2,000 units of common stock on Friday for $46.17 each, reducing his holding to 65,013 units.

The analog chipmaker has seen its market value gain 8% since the beginning of 2016, partially owing to the company’s freshly-released financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 that ended April 3. Although the market for analog chips is highly competitive, Linear Technology managed to deliver a strong earnings report. Soon after the release of the earnings report, analysts at Jefferies raised the price target on the manufacturer of linear integrated circuits to $53 from $50 and reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, citing strong booking trends, lean channel inventory and stronger end-market demand.

Earlier this year, Linear Technology raised its annual dividend payment for the 24th consecutive year, so the company is on track to join the exclusive list of Dividend Aristocrats in early 2017. Specifically, the Board approved an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.32 per share from $0.30, with the freshly-upped dividend payment equating to a current dividend yield of 2.79%. The analog chipmaker paid out approximately 62% of net earnings in the form of dividends during the nine months that ended April 3, which makes us believe that the company will join the list of Dividend Aristocrats without difficulties. Meanwhile, the stock is priced at 21.1-times expected earnings, significantly above the forward P/E multiple of 14.3 for the Semiconductors sector. First Eagle Investment Management owned 13.75 million shares of Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) at the end of December.

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