Empirical Finance LLC Raises Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 924.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,792 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises 1.4% of Empirical Finance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $24,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 821.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 78,646 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $13,566,000 after buying an additional 70,107 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 880.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 373,602 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $64,446,000 after acquiring an additional 335,490 shares during the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,471.4% during the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 18,731 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,231,000 after acquiring an additional 17,539 shares during the period. BluePointe Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 901.1% in the third quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 5,716 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 870.2% in the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 36,742 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,338,000 after purchasing an additional 32,955 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AVGO opened at $165.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $773.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.94, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.17. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $90.31 and a one year high of $186.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 184.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total value of $4,240,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 753,280 shares in the company, valued at $126,754,425.60. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock valued at $53,540,590. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.