Wedbush Securities Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,059 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for 0.5% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $13,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Broadcom by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $110,155,206,000 after buying an additional 6,573,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $23,647,209,000 after buying an additional 3,018,294 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,893,010,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,808,362 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $7,606,291,000 after purchasing an additional 810,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 26,897,909 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,236,011,000 after acquiring an additional 5,783,988 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,655,296. The trade was a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 745,976 shares of company stock valued at $138,632,902. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.48.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $146.29 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $119.76 and a one year high of $251.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $201.57 and its 200 day moving average is $195.95. The company has a market capitalization of $687.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.46%.

Broadcom Company 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.