UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Trims Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. by 1.5% in the first quarter, holding approximately 150,873 shares worth $25,261,000, making it the fund's 13th largest investment.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their positions in Broadcom, with True Wealth Design LLC upping its stake by 7.2% and Mizuho Bank Ltd. by 7.1% in the last quarter.
• Broadcom's recent quarterly earnings showed a revenue increase of 20.2% year-over-year, with the company reporting $1.58 earnings per share that exceeded expectations.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 150,873 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,228 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up approximately 1.7% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Broadcom were worth $25,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 2.4% during the first quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. American Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.8% during the first quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, GS Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 0.5% during the first quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 11,397 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Broadcom in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $315.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on Broadcom from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $294.92.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, Director Gayla J. Delly sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total transaction of $795,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,842,615.76. The trade was a 8.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total value of $125,739,356.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,188,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,132,574,604.75. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Trading Down 1.7%

Broadcom stock traded down $5.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $288.64. 21,405,316 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,995,794. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $306.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 108.10, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.15. 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 simple moving average is $266.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.55.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.96 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.