ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 20,367 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451,542 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 20,367 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up 4.3% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $104,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Broadcom by 948.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after buying an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% during the 3rd 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 worth $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $76,809,191.40. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $240.91 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $204.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.16. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.43 and a 1 year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 196.50, a PEG ratio of 2.48 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. Broadcom’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVGO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.83.

Broadcom Company 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.