Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 135,122 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1,299.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 145,517 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,122 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $25,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its position in Broadcom by 39.5% during the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 53 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth $128,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter worth $136,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Broadcom in the second quarter valued at about $153,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the second quarter valued at about $169,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $159.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.31 and a fifty-two week high of $186.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.28. The company has a market capitalization of $745.75 billion, a PE ratio of 138.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share 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%. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 184.19%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total transaction of $4,240,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 753,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,754,425.60. This represents a 3.24 % 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at $217,594,136.70. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.96.

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.