Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 1,815 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 18.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,960 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,815 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $357,000. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 78,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after buying an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,882,000 after buying an additional 5,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $71,312,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $148,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,380 shares in the company, valued at $4,695,300. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $5,839,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $256.07 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $265.43. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $211.15 and its 200 day moving average is $208.57. The company has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 208.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark boosted their target price on Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.71.

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.