First Financial Bank Trust Division Lowers Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

First Financial Bank Trust Division cut its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,689 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises approximately 1.0% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $11,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management grew its holdings in Broadcom by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,235 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 6.5% in the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 2,052 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 52.2% in the third quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Gilbert Capital Group Inc. acquired a new position in Broadcom during the second quarter worth approximately $835,000. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 10.2% during the second quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,518 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 3,893 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total transaction of $1,354,063.26. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,798,106.90. The trade was a 13.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 320,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.53, for a total value of $128,296,167.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,326,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,950,399,066.20. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 818,662 shares of company stock worth $297,135,938 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO stock opened at $339.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 71.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.71. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.10 and a 1 year high of $414.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $363.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.19.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.08. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.The firm had revenue of $18.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Monday, December 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Broadcom from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Broadcom from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $420.00 target price on Broadcom and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.