Principal Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,315 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 21,603 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $20,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Broadcom by 948.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after buying an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 976.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after purchasing an additional 89,975,941 shares during 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 worth $15,594,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,998,328 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,209,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% during the third 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. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark restated 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three equities 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, Broadcom has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,809,191.40. The trade was a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.9 %

AVGO opened at $228.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 186.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.12. 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.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

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.