Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Lowers Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV reduced its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 55,142 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 14,068 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 0.9% of Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $12,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,858,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 829.8% in the third quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 7,095 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 943.3% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 18,206 shares during the period. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,076.5% in the fourth quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,209 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho upped their price target on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total value of $3,400,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total value of $11,296,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $233.04 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 190.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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 dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.