Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 3,962 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Patton Fund Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,276 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,962 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises approximately 1.3% of Patton Fund Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $6,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 161,187 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $37,370,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Verus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $414,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in Broadcom by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 144,851 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,582,000 after buying an additional 33,468 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Foster Group Inc. increased its position in Broadcom by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 4,968 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,308,000. The trade was a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $221.27 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.43 and a fifty-two week high of $251.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 180.48, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. This is a boost 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 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.