Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 894.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,713 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 99,585 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up 1.0% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $19,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 858.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,168,798,000 after acquiring an additional 16,453,718 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Broadcom by 917.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,701,500 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,203,837,000 after purchasing an additional 11,453,554 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Broadcom by 855.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 12,674,158 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,186,292,000 after purchasing an additional 11,347,563 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 908.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,374,079 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,962,029,000 after buying an additional 10,245,786 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 226,130.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,246,100 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $14,224,520,000 after buying an additional 8,242,455 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total value of $3,456,432.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at $69,596,812.80. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded down $5.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.84. 20,836,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,525,910. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.35. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.31 and a 1-year high of $186.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $769.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released 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. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Broadcom's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom's payout ratio is currently 184.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Broadcom from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.79.

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.