Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341,753 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,096 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $79,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,858,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Wolff Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth about $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 943.3% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,473,000 after buying an additional 18,206 shares during the period. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,076.5% in the 4th quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,066,000 after buying an additional 4,209 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO opened at $226.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $1.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 185.06, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $230.21 and its 200 day moving average is $189.26. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.76 and a 12-month high of $251.88.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,308,000. The trade was a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total transaction of $10,798,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at $202,246,926.56. This represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Broadcom 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.