ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $75.77 Million Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 67,880 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,457 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up 3.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $75,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P increased its stake in Broadcom by 94.4% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 75,090 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $47,283,000 after acquiring an additional 36,458 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,945 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Broadcom by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 509,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $320,887,000 after buying an additional 87,945 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1.1% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 40,357 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,412,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Broadcom during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,095,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom to $1,480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,500.00 price target (up from $1,100.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $1,405.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Broadcom from $1,400.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,325.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,285.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,344.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,276,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,344.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,276,800. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,312.25, for a total value of $2,624,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,583,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,920 shares of company stock valued at $40,306,667 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of AVGO traded down $54.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1,204.71. 4,477,530 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,968,402. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $601.29 and a 12 month high of $1,438.17. The company has a market capitalization of $558.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,305.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,118.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 29.93%. The business had revenue of $11.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $5.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $21.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 77.84%.

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.