ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $104.69 Million Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 451,542 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 20,367 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up about 4.3% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $104,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,858,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in Broadcom by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 291,078 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $467,334,000 after buying an additional 7,608 shares during the period. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 829.8% during the third quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 943.3% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 18,206 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 947.2% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 689,858 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,000,000 after acquiring an additional 623,983 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AVGO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.83.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $240.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 196.50, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.03. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.43 and a 12 month high of $251.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $204.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.16. 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 earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.50%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,352.80. This represents a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.98, for a total transaction of $9,279,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 696,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,627,425.40. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last 90 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.