Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,775 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 886 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for about 1.5% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. McHugh Group LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $1,948,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in Broadcom by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 25,236 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,945,000 after buying an additional 6,198 shares during the period. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Broadcom by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,219 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 87,568 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $20,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elm3 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,490,000. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVGO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $224.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $219.76 and a 200 day moving average of $184.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.42, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $251.88.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

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.