Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Sells 1,684 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. trimmed its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,684 shares during the quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $16,893,010,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 18,179.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,276,164 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,892,548,000 after buying an additional 17,181,652 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Broadcom by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 47,524,533 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,018,089,000 after acquiring an additional 15,171,849 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,213,160 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,367,819,000 after acquiring an additional 6,809,245 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $110,155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 6,573,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $274.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.76, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.54. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $281.18.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has initiated a share 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 purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AVGO shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Broadcom from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $290.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total transaction of $29,782,175.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,014,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total value of $14,176,042.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 361,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,117,639.75. This represents a 13.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 828,916 shares of company stock worth $216,785,761. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.