Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 1,776 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,171 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,776 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.9% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brown Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 10,125 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 20,133 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,668,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 36,828 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $8,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 99.8% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,304 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Finally, Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 1,144.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $212.94 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.46. The firm has a market cap of $998.13 billion, a PE ratio of 173.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.76 and a 12-month high of $251.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 191.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In related news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.