Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Broadcom Inc. by 12.5%, owning approximately $486.7 million in shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their holdings in Broadcom, with 76.43% of the stock currently owned by such investors and hedge funds.
• Broadcom announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share and has a $10 billion stock repurchase program authorized by its board, indicating management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,906,977 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 322,729 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 0.9% of Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Broadcom worth $486,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $6,882,000 after acquiring an additional 5,322 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,199 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $51,283,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in Broadcom by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 25,522 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,917,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO stock traded down $5.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $288.64. The stock had a trading volume of 21,405,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,886,023. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $306.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $265.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.10, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.12.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AVGO shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on Broadcom from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Broadcom from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Broadcom from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on Broadcom from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $294.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total value of $14,176,042.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 361,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,117,639.75. The trade was a 13.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total value of $12,664,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 415,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,353,335.68. The trade was a 10.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 830,516 shares of company stock valued at $217,224,641. 2.00% of the stock is currently 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.