Pennington Partners & CO. LLC Invests $714,000 in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Pennington Partners & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,079 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Bellevue Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $197.33 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.33 and a 52-week high of $251.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $927.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 160.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. 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 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $148,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,695,300. The trade was a 3.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 719,776 shares of company stock worth $131,065,542 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.48.

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.