Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stake Boosted by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 243,801 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,077 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises 0.8% of Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $56,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 1,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 1,323.1% during the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Broadcom Price Performance

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 191.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $251.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $221.13 and a 200-day moving average of $185.16.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.