Patten Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Patten Group Inc. increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,167 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 2,652 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for about 2.0% of Patten Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $8,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 1,323.1% in the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $187.37 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $251.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.50. The company has a market capitalization of $878.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVGO. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % 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 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.