Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 886 Shares of 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, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,775 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 886 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises approximately 1.5% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest 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 also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McHugh Group LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $1,948,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,198 shares in the last quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,219 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elm3 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth about $4,490,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,352.80. The trade was a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total value of $4,815,916.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. This represents a 5.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

Broadcom Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $224.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 183.42, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.76 and a 12-month high of $251.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $219.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.32. 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 (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Broadcom 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.