Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 1,659 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,048 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 1,659 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVGO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total transaction of $29,782,175.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $4,500,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares in the company, valued at $83,872,080. The trade was a 5.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 811,716 shares of company stock worth $209,906,771. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $269.35 on Monday. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $274.26. The company's 50 day moving average is $229.43 and its 200 day moving average is $215.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 100.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.

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