Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $25.44 Million Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 907.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,497 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 132,854 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 3.8% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $25,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,998,328 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 962.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,997,455 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,519,591,000 after acquiring an additional 28,985,434 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 938.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 23,422,781 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,040,430,000 after acquiring an additional 21,168,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 858.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,168,798,000 after acquiring an additional 16,453,718 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $159.67 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.28. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $186.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $745.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 184.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Broadcom from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gayla J. Delly sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.53, for a total value of $130,897.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,064,917.50. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total value of $2,893,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 737,330 shares in the company, valued at $133,781,155.20. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 311,080 shares of company stock valued at $53,540,590 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom 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.