Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,024,141 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 962,543 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises 0.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Broadcom worth $1,510,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,893,010,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 18,179.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,276,164 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,892,548,000 after buying an additional 17,181,652 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 47,524,533 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $11,018,089,000 after purchasing an additional 15,171,849 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,213,160 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,367,819,000 after purchasing an additional 6,809,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 1.8%

AVGO stock traded up $4.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $274.87. The company had a trading volume of 10,592,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,575,138. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $277.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $238.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.95, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

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

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AVGO shares. HSBC raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $281.46.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total transaction of $12,664,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 415,956 shares in the company, valued at $105,353,335.68. This represents a 10.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total value of $2,528,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 789,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,720,577.92. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 854,716 shares of company stock valued at $221,433,761 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Company 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.