Broadcom Inc. $AVGO is Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank reduced its Broadcom stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, but Broadcom still ranked as the bank’s 4th largest holding at about $118 million.
• Broadcom reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.05 topping estimates and revenue of $19.31 billion, up 29.5% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 9.95 EPS for the full year.
• The stock has rallied sharply, recently trading near its 52-week high at $439.79, while investors also received a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, or $2.60 annualized.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340,952 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 5,369 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 3.2% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $118,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 482,707,302 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $167,064,997,000 after buying an additional 3,919,715 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 39,149,651 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $12,915,861,000 after buying an additional 700,021 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Broadcom by 2.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 33,450,786 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $11,035,749,000 after buying an additional 748,709 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 4.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,511,195 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $9,736,038,000 after buying an additional 1,124,590 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Broadcom by 3.3% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 22,216,816 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $7,453,320,000 after buying an additional 716,523 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Up 5.5%

NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $439.79 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.60 and a twelve month high of $442.36. The company has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $354.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

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

More Broadcom News

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo and other analysts turned more bullish on Broadcom’s AI chip and data-center networking business, saying Wall Street may be underestimating demand from hyperscaler buildouts. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom is being framed as one of the main winners of the AI capital-spending cycle, with multiple articles highlighting accelerating custom AI silicon revenue and expectations for continued earnings growth into the next report. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also helped by major institutions and high-profile investors continuing to add to Broadcom positions, reinforcing the view that the AI thesis remains intact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom’s valuation remains elevated after its sharp run, so the stock may be sensitive to any sign that AI growth slows or expectations become too optimistic.
• Negative Sentiment: The company is also facing an EU antitrust lawsuit over VMware-related document requests, which adds a legal overhang even though it is not the main driver of today’s move. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Broadcom from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Broadcom from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson raised shares of Broadcom to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Broadcom from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $439.97.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, Director Gayla J. Delly sold 1,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.31, for a total value of $358,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,352 shares in the company, valued at $11,592,045.12. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 278,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,450,145.60. The trade was a 15.36% 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 three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Company Profile

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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