Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 7,750 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 26.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,241 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 7,750 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $6,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVGO. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 451 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC now owns 3,375 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Broadcom from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.09.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,798,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 849,134 shares of company stock valued at $163,760,949. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of AVGO opened at $251.26 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $265.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 94.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $219.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.96 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a $0.59 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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