Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is Empirical Finance LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 141,340 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,452 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises 1.9% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $32,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after buying an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 842.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 975.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,833,894,000 after acquiring an additional 30,674,902 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVGO. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 191.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $221.13 and its 200-day moving average is $185.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.76 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 192.50%.

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.