Vantage Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 897.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,060 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,833 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for about 1.3% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $15,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Forge First Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Broadcom in the first quarter valued at $8,808,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Broadcom in the first quarter valued at $588,782,000. First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in Broadcom by 1.1% in the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 6,873 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,109,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Broadcom by 34.9% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 10,129 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,425,000 after buying an additional 2,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 42.7% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 692 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $923,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $170.38 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.31 and a 12-month high of $186.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $795.77 billion, a PE ratio of 148.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $171.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.86.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 184.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total transaction of $2,893,968.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 737,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,781,155.20. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock valued at $53,540,590. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.79.

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.