Empire Life Investments Inc. Raises Position in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments increased its Broadcom stake by 35.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 26,423 more shares and bringing its total to 99,978 shares worth about $34.6 million.
• Broadcom’s fundamentals remain strong: the company reported quarterly EPS and revenue that both beat analyst expectations, with revenue up 29.5% year over year to $19.31 billion.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on AVGO, with analysts assigning a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $441.63, while recent notes tied the stock to strong AI infrastructure demand.

Empire Life Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 35.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,978 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 26,423 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for about 1.9% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $34,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Broadcom by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 482,707,302 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $167,064,997,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919,715 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Broadcom by 1.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 39,149,651 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $12,915,861,000 after purchasing an additional 700,021 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Broadcom by 2.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 33,450,786 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $11,035,749,000 after purchasing an additional 748,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Broadcom by 4.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,511,195 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $9,736,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,590 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Broadcom by 3.3% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 22,216,816 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $7,453,320,000 after purchasing an additional 716,523 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $425.19 on Monday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.60 and a 52-week high of $442.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 83.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.43. The business's 50 day moving average is $365.61 and its 200 day moving average is $354.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 36.57%.The company had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Broadcom's revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is 50.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Broadcom from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $441.63.

Key Broadcom News

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom remains a favored way to play AI infrastructure, with multiple recent articles highlighting its growing exposure to custom AI silicon, data-center networking, and AI semiconductor revenue. Citi also raised its price target to $500, reinforcing optimism ahead of the next earnings report.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target to $545 and said AI semiconductor revenue is running 30% to 40% above expectations, suggesting Broadcom may still be benefiting from stronger-than-expected hyperscaler spending.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent investor interest has also been supportive, with hedge fund and prominent manager buying cited in several notes, alongside Broadcom being named among top tech stocks to own as AI optimism continues to drive the market.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom was also mentioned in a broader AI rotation piece that argues the next leg of the rally may be in AI bottlenecks such as optics, networking, and memory rather than only the most obvious chip winners. Broadcom was specifically named as one of the companies positioned to benefit from optical interconnect demand.
• Negative Sentiment: UBS warned that AI stocks, including Broadcom, are increasingly crowded trades, raising the risk of a pullback if enthusiasm cools or if investors rotate out of mega-cap semiconductors.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also suggests the AI chip rally may be masking broader market weakness, which can make even strong names like Broadcom vulnerable to profit-taking after a powerful advance.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,292 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $11,671,507.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 327,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,407,616. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $16,236,940.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,450,145.60. This trade represents a 15.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 324,282 shares of company stock worth $106,425,249 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc NASDAQ: AVGO is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company's semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom's portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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