Broadcom Inc. $AVGO Shares Bought by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its Broadcom stake by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 12,932 shares to reach 224,598 shares valued at about $77.7 million.
• Several analysts remain positive on Broadcom, with recent ratings including multiple buy calls and price targets as high as $545; the consensus rating is currently Moderate Buy.
• Broadcom reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while insiders also sold shares during the quarter and the stock recently traded near $414, close to its 52-week high of $442.36.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,598 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 12,932 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 1.4% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $77,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 88.9% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 119 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Broadcom from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Broadcom to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $510.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $500.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $545.00 target price (up from $430.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $448.10.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,292 shares of the business'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 $11,671,507.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 327,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,407,616. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 39,116 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.61, for a total transaction of $12,580,096.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,626 shares in the company, valued at $24,000,467.86. This represents a 34.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 324,282 shares of company stock valued at $106,425,249. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $414.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 80.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The company's fifty day moving average is $374.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $356.49. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.18 and a 1 year high of $442.36.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 36.57% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Broadcom's revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

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

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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