Wright Investors Service Inc. Cuts Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,409 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,791 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for 2.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $6,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marest Capital LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Marest Capital LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,207,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,397 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 451 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock valued at $131,249,694. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AVGO opened at $239.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 195.35, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $251.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.43.

Broadcom declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 113.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.77.

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.