Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,801 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 58,077 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises about 0.8% of Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $56,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 829.8% during the 3rd quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 7,095 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 943.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,076.5% in the fourth quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after buying an additional 4,209 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 191.71, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.16. 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 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week 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 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total value of $2,886,323.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 325,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,728,221.66. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

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.