Essex LLC Has $333,000 Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Essex LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,438 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $17,055,760,000 after buying an additional 89,975,941 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 975.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $251.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $221.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.71, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 1.00%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AVGO. Hsbc Global Res raised Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. This represents a 5.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.