Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Decreases Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 18.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,473 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 5,832 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises approximately 0.5% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $8,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 62.1% during the second quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $326.02 on Thursday. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.10 and a 12-month high of $414.61. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $362.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $319.95.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $18.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.46 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.The firm’s revenue was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 49.58%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.89, for a total transaction of $289,512.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,448,419.98. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.58, for a total value of $33,958,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 725,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,412,152.04. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 791,513 shares of company stock worth $287,708,906 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVGO. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up from $415.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 target price (up previously from $460.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $475.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.96.

About Broadcom

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.