West Branch Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,913 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises 2.1% of West Branch Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $6,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 1,030.8% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 1,323.1% in the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 1,073.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 223 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $244.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.59, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $207.20 and its 200 day moving average is $180.10. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.43 and a 52 week high of $251.88.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 192.50%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at $10,655,296. The trade was a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVGO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.83.

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.