Perpetual Ltd Lowers Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Perpetual Ltd decreased its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 399,369 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 129,581 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.1% of Perpetual Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $92,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Trust Co raised its holdings in Broadcom by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 26,810 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 11,477 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 82,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $19,072,000 after buying an additional 6,474 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 2,182 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $289,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVGO. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.83.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. The trade was a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total value of $10,798,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO stock opened at $240.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $204.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.16. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.43 and a 52-week high of $251.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 196.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. 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 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.