Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stake Trimmed by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank lowered its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 142,797 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 35,193 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 2.4% of Ledyard National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Ledyard National Bank's holdings in Broadcom were worth $23,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVGO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Broadcom by 1.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,018,294 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% during 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 buying an additional 5,258,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.25.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $264.65. 18,860,226 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,286,038. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $269.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 99.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.63. 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 (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.96 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $4,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $83,872,080. This represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total transaction of $2,528,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 789,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,720,577.92. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 301,468 shares of company stock worth $74,670,250. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.