Conning Inc. Trims Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Conning Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 15.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,616 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 5,711 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $5,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $274.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,743,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,527,844. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $277.71. The company has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.69, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The business had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.96 earnings per share. Broadcom's revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. 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 0.86%. Broadcom's payout ratio is 88.39%.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $304.00 target price (up previously from $267.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.71.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,350 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.27, for a total value of $9,497,164.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 325,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $85,066,115.49. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 40,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.29, for a total transaction of $10,731,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,540,070.44. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 854,716 shares of company stock worth $221,433,761. Corporate 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.