Employees Provident Fund Board Purchases Shares of 1,527,688 Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Key Points

• Employees Provident Fund Board bought 1,527,688 shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter, a stake worth about $528.7 million. The position now represents 3.9% of its portfolio, making Broadcom its 5th-largest holding.
• Broadcom continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors adding to positions and 76.43% of shares now held by institutions and hedge funds.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $2.44 and revenue of $22.19 billion, while analysts remain broadly positive with an average Moderate Buy rating and multiple recent price-target increases.

Employees Provident Fund Board purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,527,688 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $528,733,000. Broadcom accounts for 3.9% of Employees Provident Fund Board's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $848,000. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth approximately $791,000. EJMK Ventures LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,348,000. Tulsa Wealth Advisors INC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,365,000. Finally, NWF Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,584 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,355,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 4,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.91, for a total value of $1,905,440.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 269,989 shares in the company, valued at $106,621,355.99. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider S. Ram Velaga sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.52, for a total transaction of $2,964,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,932 shares in the company, valued at $21,464,964.64. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 59,385 shares of company stock valued at $21,301,057 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Broadcom News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom’s debt tender offer was upsized to $3 billion after strong investor demand, signaling active balance-sheet management and reinforcing investor confidence. Broadcom Inc. Announces Results and Upsize of Offers to Purchase for Cash Certain of its Outstanding Debt Securities
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan remained bullish on Broadcom, saying investors should be “aggressive buyers,” which supports the view that the market may still be underestimating AVGO’s AI growth. AVGO stock jumps — JPMorgan says investors should be 'aggressive buyers' of Broadcom at current levels
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also called Broadcom a top chip stock on strong data-center demand, adding another bullish Wall Street view tied to AI infrastructure spending. Citi Touts Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) as a Top Chip Stock on Soaring Data Center Demand
• Positive Sentiment: One report said VMware, Broadcom’s second-largest business, may be set to accelerate, which could broaden growth beyond the company’s AI chip exposure. VMware: Broadcom's Second Biggest Business Set to Accelerate
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Mark David Brazeal sold shares in two June transactions, but the sales were relatively small versus his remaining stake and do not necessarily change the broader investment thesis. Mark David Brazeal insider trading page
• Negative Sentiment: One analyst warned that chip valuations are getting stretched and suggested investors could consider alternatives, including Broadcom, which may temper enthusiasm if valuation concerns intensify. Analyst Warns Intel Valuation ‘Doesn't Make Sense.' Suggests NVIDIA, AMD, Micron, and Broadcom as Alternatives.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVGO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $485.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $582.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $490.13.

Broadcom Price Performance

Broadcom stock opened at $411.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $411.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.50. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.17 and a 1-year high of $495.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 3rd. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.13 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 38.85% and a return on equity of 41.61%. The firm's revenue was up 47.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Broadcom's payout ratio is presently 43.33%.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc NASDAQ: AVGO is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company's semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom's portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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