Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stake Lifted by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,428 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,956 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 2.5% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $38,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 113,495.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,327,217 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $37,140,060,000 after buying an additional 3,324,288 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 43.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,025,658 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,343,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,755 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the third quarter valued at $560,563,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,019,122 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,338,203,000 after purchasing an additional 573,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,206,601 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,663,339,000 after purchasing an additional 514,120 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVGO. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $1,405.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Broadcom to $1,480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,500.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,325.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,720.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,285.41.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,312.25, for a total value of $2,624,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,583,976. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,312.25, for a total value of $2,624,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,096 shares in the company, valued at $220,583,976. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 3,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,290.34, for a total transaction of $4,064,571.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,991,048.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,920 shares of company stock worth $40,306,667 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded up $47.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,341.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,424,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,923,003. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,304.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,130.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $621.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.34. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $601.29 and a 12 month high of $1,438.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.95 by $2.04. The business had revenue of $11.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.79 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 29.93% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The company’s revenue was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $5.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $21.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

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.