Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Reduces Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. cut its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 16.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,548 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises 2.4% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 72.7% during the first quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 19 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Broadcom during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN boosted its position in Broadcom by 242.9% in the first quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 24 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 7,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,705.95, for a total value of $12,798,036.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,746,936.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 7,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,705.95, for a total value of $12,798,036.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,746,936.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $167.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.51 and a 12-month high of $185.16. The company has a market capitalization of $779.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.20, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $156.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.69.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVGO. UBS Group reduced their target price on Broadcom from $173.50 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $155.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.23.

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.