Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 98,742 Shares of Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 128,410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 98,742 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.7% of Securian Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $44,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Broadcom during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Miller Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $425.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.60 and a 12 month high of $442.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $365.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $354.62. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.05, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.43.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a net margin of 36.57% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $19.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 39,116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.61, for a total value of $12,580,096.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 74,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,000,467.86. This trade represents a 34.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total transaction of $16,236,940.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,450,145.60. The trade was a 15.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 324,282 shares of company stock worth $106,425,249 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Broadcom News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom remains a favored way to play AI infrastructure, with multiple recent articles highlighting its growing exposure to custom AI silicon, data-center networking, and AI semiconductor revenue. Citi also raised its price target to $500, reinforcing optimism ahead of the next earnings report.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target to $545 and said AI semiconductor revenue is running 30% to 40% above expectations, suggesting Broadcom may still be benefiting from stronger-than-expected hyperscaler spending.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent investor interest has also been supportive, with hedge fund and prominent manager buying cited in several notes, alongside Broadcom being named among top tech stocks to own as AI optimism continues to drive the market.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom was also mentioned in a broader AI rotation piece that argues the next leg of the rally may be in AI bottlenecks such as optics, networking, and memory rather than only the most obvious chip winners. Broadcom was specifically named as one of the companies positioned to benefit from optical interconnect demand.
• Negative Sentiment: UBS warned that AI stocks, including Broadcom, are increasingly crowded trades, raising the risk of a pullback if enthusiasm cools or if investors rotate out of mega-cap semiconductors.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also suggests the AI chip rally may be masking broader market weakness, which can make even strong names like Broadcom vulnerable to profit-taking after a powerful advance.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVGO shares. Erste Group Bank cut Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Broadcom from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Broadcom from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Broadcom from $462.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.63.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.