Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,632 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 6,872 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up 1.8% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $56,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Broadcom by 900.0% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,323.1% during the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $235.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $251.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 191.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $221.13 and a 200 day moving average of $185.16.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total transaction of $10,798,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.04.

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.