JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Trims Holdings in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 420,881 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,533 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $138,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the second quarter worth $18,579,549,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Broadcom by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 483,442,939 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $133,261,046,000 after buying an additional 6,222,802 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth $1,571,438,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Broadcom by 115.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,017,340 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,658,680,000 after buying an additional 3,224,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Broadcom by 272.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,189,531 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,154,844,000 after buying an additional 3,065,809 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO opened at $343.50 on Thursday. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.10 and a 1-year high of $414.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 72.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $361.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $18.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.Broadcom’s revenue was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 54.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $385.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $415.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $430.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Broadcom from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $436.89.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.65, for a total value of $34,565,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 495,638 shares in the company, valued at $171,317,274.70. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total value of $10,434,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 277,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $96,428,573.34. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 680,701 shares of company stock worth $249,624,757 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.