Broadcom Inc. $AVGO is Principal Financial Group Inc.'s 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Broadcom stake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter but still held 8.42 million shares, making Broadcom its 7th largest position and about 1.5% of its portfolio.
• Broadcom reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.05 versus $2.03 expected and revenue of $19.31 billion versus $19.10 billion expected, while revenue rose 29.5% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $435.30, even as some firms recently raised or lowered their price targets and ratings.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,421,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 186,846 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises 1.5% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Broadcom worth $2,914,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its position in Broadcom by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 1,937 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,316,000. Windward Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Broadcom by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 707,367 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $244,820,000 after buying an additional 33,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,579,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Broadcom from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $510.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Broadcom from $370.00 to $340.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Broadcom from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $435.30.

Broadcom Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $428.43 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $356.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $352.45. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.88 and a 52 week high of $437.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 83.68, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.43.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a net margin of 36.57% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Broadcom's payout ratio is presently 50.78%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $16,236,940.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,450,145.60. This represents a 15.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.23, for a total transaction of $3,452,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 787,184 shares in the company, valued at $271,759,532.32. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 324,282 shares of company stock valued at $106,425,249 over the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc NASDAQ: AVGO is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company's semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom's portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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