HighVista Strategies LLC Buys New Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,900 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 2.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 291,078 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $467,334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,608 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 943.3% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 18,206 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in Broadcom by 947.2% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 689,858 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,000,000 after purchasing an additional 623,983 shares during the period. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 912.6% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,802 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 913.0% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 78,977 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,624,000 after acquiring an additional 71,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $166.51 on Tuesday. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $186.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $777.70 billion, a PE ratio of 144.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.69.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 184.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total value of $2,893,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 737,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,781,155.20. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock valued at $53,540,590 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.