Aspire Private Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Aspire Private Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 28.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,843 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 3,519 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1.4% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $23,647,209,000 after buying an additional 3,018,294 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $21,624,718,000 after buying an additional 2,873,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,258,925 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AVGO shares. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $304.00 target price (up previously from $267.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.09.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO stock traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $249.99. 42,100,140 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,469,720. The company has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $220.48 and its 200 day moving average is $212.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.50 and a 12-month high of $265.43.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.96 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.35, for a total value of $200,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,354,383.70. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total value of $2,528,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 789,784 shares in the company, valued at $199,720,577.92. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 849,134 shares of company stock worth $163,760,949 in the last 90 days. 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.