Broadcom Inc. $AVGO Stake Boosted by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 776,920 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,091 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises approximately 3.0% of Whittier Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $262,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVGO. Quilter Plc increased its holdings in Broadcom by 10,601.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 164,050 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $54,122,000 after buying an additional 162,517 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Broadcom by 7.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,591,055 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $524,804,000 after buying an additional 114,231 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 803 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Heritage Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 15.1% in the third quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the third quarter worth about $284,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total value of $10,434,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 277,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $96,428,573.34. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 130,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.02, for a total transaction of $42,382,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 595,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,189,900.76. The trade was a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 779,901 shares of company stock valued at $284,069,237. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.2%

Broadcom stock opened at $331.30 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.10 and a fifty-two week high of $414.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $355.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 69.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.21.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $430.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group set a $475.00 price target on shares of Broadcom and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Broadcom from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $437.28.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.