Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Takes Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,060 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVGO. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,938 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Connective Portfolio Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Connective Portfolio Management LLC now owns 10,920 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 4,120 shares during the last quarter. Sagace Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Sagace Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 6,327 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 9,166 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $229.41 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $200.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.02 and a 12-month high of $251.88. The company has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 187.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 192.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of Broadcom 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 sale, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total value of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,809,191.40. This represents a 5.90 % 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 over the last 90 days. Company 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.