Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 632,511 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,304,035 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 632,511 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for about 6.5% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.11% of Broadcom worth $1,229,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVGO. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after buying an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 976.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after acquiring an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 842.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $187.37 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $226.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.50. The stock has a market cap of $878.27 billion, a PE ratio of 152.83, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $251.88. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 191.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 842,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total value of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,809,191.40. This represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Company Profile

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.