Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Raises Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 3,140.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,176,949 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,140,633 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for about 0.9% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $203,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVGO. Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.9% during the second quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.6% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 1,409 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,262,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Anderson Hoagland & Co. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.3% during the second quarter. Anderson Hoagland & Co. now owns 2,667 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,623,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd raised its holdings in Broadcom by 6.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Group Ltd now owns 176 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 1.4% during the second quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 723 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AVGO. UBS Group boosted their target price on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total transaction of $2,893,968.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 737,330 shares in the company, valued at $133,781,155.20. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $164.74 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $173.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $186.42. The company has a market cap of $769.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 184.19%.

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.