Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 482,300 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises about 1.6% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Broadcom were worth $80,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 342.5% during the first quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total transaction of $12,664,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 415,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,353,335.68. This trade represents a 10.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.29, for a total transaction of $10,731,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $129,540,070.44. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 828,916 shares of company stock valued at $216,785,761. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.4%

Broadcom stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $275.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,919,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,056,476. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $281.18. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $246.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AVGO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $304.00 price target (up from $267.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.21.

Broadcom Profile

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.