Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 1,052,464 Shares of Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,402,656 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,052,464 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up about 3.2% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,431,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Counsel LLC NY bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 2nd quarter valued at $221,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 48,361 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $13,331,000 after acquiring an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Providence First Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,099.3% in the third quarter. Providence First Trust Co now owns 8,923 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,179 shares during the period. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 174.7% in the second quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 23,673 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,525,000 after acquiring an additional 15,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 107.6% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 16,524 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,555,000 after acquiring an additional 8,566 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $430.00 price target on shares of Broadcom and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Broadcom from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Broadcom from $370.00 to $340.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Broadcom from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.30.

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO opened at $345.75 on Tuesday. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.10 and a 1 year high of $414.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 67.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.89.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 36.57% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Broadcom’s revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.12, for a total value of $10,413,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 210,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,094,099.76. This trade represents a 12.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry L. You purchased 1,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $325.13 per share, for a total transaction of $325,130.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,602 shares in the company, valued at $11,900,408.26. This represents a 2.81% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 458,785 shares of company stock valued at $155,508,157. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.