Lafayette Investments Inc. Acquires 25 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 313 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BetterWealth LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. BetterWealth LLC now owns 602 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Broadcom by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,289 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 609 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Sabal Trust CO raised its holdings in Broadcom by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 640 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO stock traded down $26.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,232.86. 753,944 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,917,091. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $601.29 and a one year high of $1,438.17. The stock has a market cap of $571.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,306.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,116.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. Broadcom had a net margin of 29.93% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The firm had revenue of $11.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $5.25 dividend. This represents a $21.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $1,400.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,500.00 price target (up from $1,100.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Broadcom to $1,480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,620.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $1,405.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,285.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 3,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,290.34, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Broadcom news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 3,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,290.34, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth Hao sold 9,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,388.13, for a total transaction of $12,715,270.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,465.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,920 shares of company stock valued at $40,306,667. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.