Commerce Bank Raises Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 924.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,297,328 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,170,721 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.4% of Commerce Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Commerce Bank's holdings in Broadcom were worth $223,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MWA Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 863.9% in the third quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 31,028 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,352,000 after buying an additional 27,809 shares during the period. Northwest Bancshares Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 862.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. now owns 6,032 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 702.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 133,336 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $23,000,000 after purchasing an additional 116,717 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 992.2% in the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,957 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 6,320 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in Broadcom by 358.0% in the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 64,248 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $11,095,000 after purchasing an additional 50,219 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, September 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $192.79.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.2 %

AVGO traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.23. 17,332,473 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,615,522. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $173.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.62. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.31 and a 1-year high of $186.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $767.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.17. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is 184.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total transaction of $4,240,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 753,280 shares in the company, valued at $126,754,425.60. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock valued at $53,540,590 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.