Meridian Financial Partners LLC Acquires 168 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,280 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for about 0.9% of Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Kades & Cheifetz LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kades & Cheifetz LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,536,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,584 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.4% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,507 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Michael S. Ryan Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 8,959 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 510 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 1.5 %

Broadcom stock opened at $228.00 on Thursday. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.02 and a twelve month high of $251.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 198.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $199.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.54.

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.