Fmr LLC Acquires 82,998,328 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Fmr LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1,121.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 0.9% of Fmr LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $15,594,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Broadcom by 166.2% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,316 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at about $264,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 258.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 102,941 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $136,438,000 after buying an additional 74,244 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 27,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $36,387,000 after acquiring an additional 13,398 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 57,900 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $76,742,000 after acquiring an additional 14,664 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.96.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $159.67 on Thursday. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.31 and a twelve month high of $186.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.28.

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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 184.19%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total value of $3,456,432.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at $69,596,812.80. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 in the last quarter. Company 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.