Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 79.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 111,238 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 49,183 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $25,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Kades & Cheifetz LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kades & Cheifetz LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,536,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,584 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors raised its position in Broadcom by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 12,322 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,857,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,507 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 3,073 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVGO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.83.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the company'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 value of $1,569,600.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded up $8.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $237.44. 31,036,592 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,590,264. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.19 and a 1 year high of $251.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $202.01 and a 200 day moving average of $178.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03. 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 - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. This is an increase from Broadcom's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom's payout ratio is 192.50%.

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.