Ethos Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,885 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 49.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,885 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 900.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.2 %

Broadcom stock opened at $191.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.64. The company has a market cap of $898.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 156.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $251.88. 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 (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total value of $11,296,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.