Conning Inc. Trims Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Conning Inc. trimmed its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 86.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,327 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 229,992 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $8,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Broadcom by 856.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,014,616 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $175,101,000 after purchasing an additional 908,585 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the third quarter valued at $404,000. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 900.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,760 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 797.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,316.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 30,444 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,252,000 after acquiring an additional 28,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total transaction of $10,798,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,246,926.56. This represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. The trade was a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $235.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.56. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $251.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 191.71, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVGO. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

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.