Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 317.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,477 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after buying an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after buying 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% in 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 buying an additional 28,985,434 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 938.8% in 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 buying an additional 21,168,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Broadcom by 858.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,168,798,000 after purchasing an additional 16,453,718 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 399,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,744,366. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $159.67 on Thursday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.31 and a 52-week high of $186.42. The stock has a market cap 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $173.72 and its 200 day moving average is $161.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 184.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.96.

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.