Range Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Range Financial Group LLC increased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 106.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,348 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 3,793 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,858,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 2.7% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 291,078 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $467,334,000 after buying an additional 7,608 shares in the last quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 829.8% in the third quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 943.3% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 18,206 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Broadcom by 947.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 689,858 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,000,000 after purchasing an additional 623,983 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO stock traded down $7.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $228.64. The stock had a trading volume of 25,874,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,947,465. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 198.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.24. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $251.88.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total value of $10,798,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,246,926.56. The trade was a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total transaction of $3,456,432.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at $69,596,812.80. This trade represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 174,128 shares of company stock worth $39,099,840. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. William Blair assumed coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.88.

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.