Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,068,184 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,539,787 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,068,184 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises about 1.9% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.10% of Broadcom worth $1,052,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,893,010,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Broadcom by 46.9% in 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 buying an additional 15,171,849 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,213,160 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,367,819,000 after purchasing an additional 6,809,245 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $110,155,206,000 after buying an additional 6,573,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,019.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,182,409 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,238,966,000 after purchasing an additional 6,540,800 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVGO. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.48.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $207.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.13. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $251.88. The firm has a market cap of $976.92 billion, a PE ratio of 169.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total value of $120,578,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $5,839,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 719,776 shares of company stock worth $131,065,542. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Broadcom

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.