Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 2,344 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,465 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 2,344 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $37,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,655,402 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,866,684,000 after purchasing an additional 93,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Broadcom by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,025,658 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,343,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,755 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,019,122 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,338,203,000 after acquiring an additional 573,826 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 113,495.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,327,217 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $37,140,060,000 after acquiring an additional 3,324,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,206,601 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,663,339,000 after purchasing an additional 514,120 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $1,400.00 to $1,500.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,325.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,720.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,500.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Broadcom from $1,450.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,285.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Justine Page sold 110 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,323.00, for a total transaction of $145,530.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,125 shares in the company, valued at $4,134,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,318.97, for a total value of $3,297,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,957,296.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Justine Page sold 110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,323.00, for a total transaction of $145,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,134,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,920 shares of company stock valued at $40,306,667 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Broadcom stock traded down $5.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,304.62. 804,651 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,866,531. The stock has a market capitalization of $604.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,308.68 and its 200-day moving average is $1,154.58. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $615.86 and a 12-month high of $1,438.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. The firm had revenue of $11.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.79 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 29.93% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

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

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.