Meridian Financial Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,112 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 858.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,168,798,000 after purchasing an additional 16,453,718 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 826.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,963,813 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $511,258,000 after buying an additional 2,643,845 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,651,273 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $59,181,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,462 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,141,025 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,488,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 937.1% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,331,971 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $229,755,000 after buying an additional 1,203,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AVGO. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Broadcom from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Monday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.54.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 399,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,744,366. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total transaction of $4,240,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 753,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,754,425.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 399,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,744,366. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Broadcom stock opened at $179.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $837.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.25. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.83 and a 52-week high of $186.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS 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 dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 9.12%.

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.