Balefire LLC Grows Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Balefire LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,780 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 2.4% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,703,487 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $469,566,000 after acquiring an additional 39,466 shares in the last quarter. Capital Counsel LLC NY purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth about $221,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in Broadcom by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 48,361 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,130 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,737,000 after buying an additional 13,978 shares during the period. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 107.6% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 16,524 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,555,000 after buying an additional 8,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 3,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.79, for a total value of $1,217,412.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 307,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,709,216.23. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 320,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.53, for a total transaction of $128,296,167.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,326,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,950,399,066.20. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 825,296 shares of company stock valued at $299,151,975 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $329.88 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.10 and a 12 month high of $414.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 69.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $362.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $320.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.08. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.The company had revenue of $18.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AVGO. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $435.00 target price on shares of Broadcom and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $342.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $420.00 price target on Broadcom and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $435.96.

Broadcom 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.