Forsta AP Fonden Reduces Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,172,440 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 42,100 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for 1.9% of Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $271,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after purchasing an additional 89,975,941 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $6,209,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total value of $3,400,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $221.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $212.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.58. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.43 and a 1 year high of $251.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 180.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.