Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Sold by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,823 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Broadcom by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $110,155,206,000 after acquiring an additional 6,573,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $23,647,209,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018,294 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $21,624,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,380,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258,925 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVGO. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.77.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of AVGO opened at $248.71 on Tuesday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $251.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 202.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.19, for a total value of $184,152.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,834.58. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $4,500,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,872,080. This trade represents a 5.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock valued at $131,249,694 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.