Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Has $531,000 Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 57.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,292 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,077 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 976.6% in 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 increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 975.4% in 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 valued at $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $215.66 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $211.24 and its 200-day moving average is $181.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 175.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted 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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 191.87%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total value of $10,798,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 842,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,246,926.56. This represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at $7,308,000. This trade represents a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

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.