Apriem Advisors Cuts Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Apriem Advisors reduced its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,194 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 976.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $17,055,760,000 after buying an additional 89,975,941 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after buying an additional 82,998,328 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 842.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,209,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,833,894,000 after acquiring an additional 30,674,902 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.98, for a total transaction of $9,279,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 696,730 shares in the company, valued at $161,627,425.40. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This trade represents a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Broadcom Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of AVGO opened at $197.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $227.87 and its 200 day moving average is $191.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.76 and a 12-month high of $251.88. The company has a market capitalization of $927.16 billion, a PE ratio of 161.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 191.87%.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc designs, develops, and supplies various semiconductor devices with a focus on complex digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor based devices and analog III-V based products worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software.