Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 11,453,554 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 917.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,701,500 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,453,554 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises approximately 2.4% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.27% of Broadcom worth $2,203,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,651,273 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $59,181,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,462 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 858.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,168,798,000 after buying an additional 16,453,718 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 855.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 12,674,158 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,186,292,000 after buying an additional 11,347,563 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 226,130.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,246,100 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $14,224,520,000 after acquiring an additional 8,242,455 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 156,028.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 7,284,970 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,256,657,000 after acquiring an additional 7,280,304 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $173.90 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $169.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.58. The firm has a market cap of $812.21 billion, a PE ratio of 151.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.17. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.12 and a 1-year high of $186.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 184.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AVGO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. William Blair initiated coverage on Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.79.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at $217,594,136.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total transaction of $3,456,432.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,596,812.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is 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.