Ridgewood Investments LLC Sells 1,719 Shares of Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Ridgewood Investments LLC trimmed its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 29.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,055 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Broadcom in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter worth about $31,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $332.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $356.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $336.92. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.10 and a 12 month high of $414.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 69.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.21.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.08. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.The company had revenue of $18.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd were paid 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 an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.62%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Henry Samueli sold 320,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.53, for a total transaction of $128,296,167.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,326,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,950,399,066.20. This represents a 0.85% 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, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 130,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.02, for a total transaction of $42,382,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 595,638 shares in the company, valued at $194,189,900.76. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 779,901 shares of company stock worth $284,069,237 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $430.00 target price on Broadcom and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.61.

About Broadcom

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.