Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd Purchases New Shares in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,637,000. Broadcom accounts for about 2.7% of Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Bellevue Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVGO. Barclays decreased their target price on Broadcom from $260.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.48.

Broadcom Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $228.61 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 186.47, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $251.88.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,182 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,834.58. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $5,839,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by 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.