Van Strum & Towne Inc. Increases Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,935 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bellevue Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total value of $2,886,323.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 325,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,728,221.66. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $195.54 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.76 and a 52 week high of $251.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.68. The firm has a market cap of $919.42 billion, a PE ratio of 159.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AVGO shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research 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, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.48.

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.