Apriem Advisors Sells 424 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Apriem Advisors reduced its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,194 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Broadcom Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of AVGO opened at $197.80 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.76 and a 1-year high of $251.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $227.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $927.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.34, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 1.19%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 191.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In related news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total value of $10,798,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 842,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,246,926.56. The trade was a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Broadcom

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.