Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $23.51 Million in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,643 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $23,510,000. Broadcom comprises 3.8% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 291,078 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $467,334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,608 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 78,268 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $87,367,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 524,537 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $842,160,000 after buying an additional 84,196 shares during the period. Shellback Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,368,000. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter valued at about $17,658,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Broadcom from $162.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Broadcom from $2,000.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.23.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO stock opened at $172.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.25. The company has a market capitalization of $803.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.16. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.89 and a 52-week high of $185.16.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 9.12%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total value of $4,240,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 753,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,754,425.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Gayla J. Delly sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.53, for a total transaction of $130,897.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,064,917.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total value of $4,240,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 753,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,754,425.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 233,452 shares of company stock valued at $51,278,838. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.