Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 56,020 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Broadcom Inc. by 5.3%, acquiring an additional 56,020 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to over $185 million.
• Insider transactions saw CFO Kirsten M. Spears and CEO Hock E. Tan sell significant portions of their shares, representing decreases of 13.46% and 10.40% in their respective ownerships.
• Broadcom announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 0.81%, and has a stock buyback plan authorized for $10 billion.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,106,256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 56,020 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Broadcom were worth $185,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $6,882,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Broadcom by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,199 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $51,283,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Broadcom by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 25,522 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,917,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in Broadcom by 326.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,219 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,905,000 after buying an additional 6,291 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $91,117,639.75. The trade was a 13.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total value of $12,664,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 415,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,353,335.68. This represents a 10.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 830,516 shares of company stock valued at $217,224,641. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $292.23. The stock had a trading volume of 4,542,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,994,857. The company has a market cap of $1.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 109.45, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.12. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $260.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $293.27.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.96 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is 88.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Broadcom in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $315.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.08.

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.