Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,702,896 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 48,383 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.1% of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $394,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN bought a new position in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter worth about $228,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA bought a new position in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter worth about $234,000. Castleview Partners LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 1,030.8% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Broadcom by 900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.83.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This trade represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $244.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 199.59, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.10. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.43 and a 12 month high of $251.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

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.