Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 4,193 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 59.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,885 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 4,193 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BetterWealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. BetterWealth LLC now owns 602 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 557 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 40 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its stake in Broadcom by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,289 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,439,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Broadcom by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 609 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock traded down $7.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,303.11. 1,240,937 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,871,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $603.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.30, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,308.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,157.75. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $615.86 and a 52-week high of $1,438.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. The company had revenue of $11.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.79 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 29.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.83 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.96 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $5.25 dividend. This represents a $21.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 77.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Broadcom from $1,300.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Broadcom to $1,480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $1,450.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,325.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $1,400.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,285.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Hao sold 9,160 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,388.13, for a total transaction of $12,715,270.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,465.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 3,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,290.34, for a total value of $4,064,571.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,643 shares in the company, valued at $5,991,048.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Hao sold 9,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,388.13, for a total value of $12,715,270.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,465.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,920 shares of company stock worth $40,306,667. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.