Stephens Inc. AR Increases Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 417,754 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,281 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up about 1.4% of Stephens Inc. AR’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $96,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Broadcom by 21.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Wolff Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 943.3% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Broadcom by 1,076.5% during the fourth quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 191.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.76 and a 12-month high of $251.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $221.13 and a 200 day moving average of $185.16.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVGO. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.