Kentucky Retirement Systems Increases Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 887.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 324,285 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 291,459 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises about 1.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Broadcom were worth $55,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. InterOcean Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 8.4% in the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,740,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam increased its position in Broadcom by 763.2% in the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 74,430 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $98,650,000 after buying an additional 65,807 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter valued at $478,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the first quarter valued at $1,088,000. Finally, Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the first quarter valued at $23,208,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AVGO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. William Blair assumed coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 399,460 shares in the company, valued at $70,744,366. This represents a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total transaction of $2,893,968.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 737,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,781,155.20. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $165.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.31 and a 12 month high of $186.42. The company has a market cap of $773.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.57.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 184.19%.

Broadcom Company 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.