Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 98,742 Shares of Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management reduced its Broadcom stake by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 98,742 shares and leaving it with 128,410 shares valued at about $44.4 million.
• Broadcom continues to post strong operating results, recently beating earnings and revenue expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.05 and revenue of $19.31 billion, up 29.5% year over year.
• Wall Street remains largely bullish on AVGO, with several analysts raising price targets into the $500-$545 range, though the stock still faces some caution due to insider selling and concerns that AI trades are becoming crowded.

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 43.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 98,742 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.7% of Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $44,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Broadcom in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Miller Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $425.19 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $221.60 and a one year high of $442.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $365.61 and its 200 day moving average is $354.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 83.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 36.57%.The company had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. Broadcom's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.78%.

Broadcom News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom remains a favored way to play AI infrastructure, with multiple recent articles highlighting its growing exposure to custom AI silicon, data-center networking, and AI semiconductor revenue. Citi also raised its price target to $500, reinforcing optimism ahead of the next earnings report.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target to $545 and said AI semiconductor revenue is running 30% to 40% above expectations, suggesting Broadcom may still be benefiting from stronger-than-expected hyperscaler spending.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent investor interest has also been supportive, with hedge fund and prominent manager buying cited in several notes, alongside Broadcom being named among top tech stocks to own as AI optimism continues to drive the market.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom was also mentioned in a broader AI rotation piece that argues the next leg of the rally may be in AI bottlenecks such as optics, networking, and memory rather than only the most obvious chip winners. Broadcom was specifically named as one of the companies positioned to benefit from optical interconnect demand.
• Negative Sentiment: UBS warned that AI stocks, including Broadcom, are increasingly crowded trades, raising the risk of a pullback if enthusiasm cools or if investors rotate out of mega-cap semiconductors.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also suggests the AI chip rally may be masking broader market weakness, which can make even strong names like Broadcom vulnerable to profit-taking after a powerful advance.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Weiss Ratings cut Broadcom from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target (up from $475.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Broadcom from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Broadcom from $510.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $441.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,292 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $11,671,507.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 327,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,407,616. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $16,236,940.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,450,145.60. This represents a 15.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 324,282 shares of company stock valued at $106,425,249 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Profile

Broadcom Inc NASDAQ: AVGO is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company's semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom's portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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