Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,452 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 141,340 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,452 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.9% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $32,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Broadcom by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,858,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 829.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 943.3% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 18,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors grew its position in Broadcom by 1,076.5% in the 4th quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of 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 P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.76 and a 1 year high of $251.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $221.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.16.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total transaction of $2,886,323.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 325,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,728,221.66. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.