First Financial Bank Trust Division Decreases Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,930 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 1,101 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division's holdings in Broadcom were worth $5,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Bryant Woods Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bryant Woods Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Marest Capital LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Marest Capital LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,693 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $238.77.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AVGO traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $239.50. 27,045,094 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,042,717. The business has a 50 day moving average of $194.36 and a 200 day moving average of $202.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 195.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.50 and a 1-year high of $251.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $148,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,695,300. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $4,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 465,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $83,872,080. The trade was a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.