Covea Finance Sells 147,800 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Covea Finance trimmed its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 42.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,300 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 147,800 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 1.5% of Covea Finance's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Covea Finance's holdings in Broadcom were worth $34,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,207,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 451 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC now owns 3,375 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Down 0.5%

AVGO opened at $249.99 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $265.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.63, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11. The company's 50 day moving average price is $220.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.96 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom declared that its board 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 buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.35, for a total value of $200,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,354,383.70. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 849,134 shares of company stock valued at $163,760,949. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AVGO shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $276.09.

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.

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