Ethic Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Broadcom stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 14,018 shares to reach 357,601 shares valued at about $123.8 million. Broadcom is now Ethic’s 7th-largest holding and makes up roughly 1.9% of its portfolio.
• Several other institutional investors also added to Broadcom, including Vanguard, Invesco, Legal & General, Franklin Resources, and Amundi, underscoring strong institutional ownership of the stock at 76.43%.
• Broadcom continues to benefit from upbeat AI-related sentiment, with analysts highlighting demand for its AI chips and data-center networking business. The company also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while insiders have been selling shares and the stock trades near its 52-week high.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 357,601 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 14,018 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.9% of Ethic Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $123,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 482,707,302 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $167,064,997,000 after buying an additional 3,919,715 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 39,149,651 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $12,915,861,000 after buying an additional 700,021 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 33,450,786 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $11,035,749,000 after buying an additional 748,709 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,511,195 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $9,736,038,000 after buying an additional 1,124,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 22,216,816 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $7,453,320,000 after purchasing an additional 716,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,292 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $11,671,507.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 327,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,407,616. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $16,236,940.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,450,145.60. The trade was a 15.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 324,282 shares of company stock valued at $106,425,249 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Broadcom News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo and other analysts turned more bullish on Broadcom’s AI chip and data-center networking business, saying Wall Street may be underestimating demand from hyperscaler buildouts. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom is being framed as one of the main winners of the AI capital-spending cycle, with multiple articles highlighting accelerating custom AI silicon revenue and expectations for continued earnings growth into the next report. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also helped by major institutions and high-profile investors continuing to add to Broadcom positions, reinforcing the view that the AI thesis remains intact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom’s valuation remains elevated after its sharp run, so the stock may be sensitive to any sign that AI growth slows or expectations become too optimistic.
• Negative Sentiment: The company is also facing an EU antitrust lawsuit over VMware-related document requests, which adds a legal overhang even though it is not the main driver of today’s move. Article Title

Broadcom Stock Up 5.5%

Broadcom stock opened at $439.79 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.60 and a 1-year high of $442.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $363.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $354.12.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a net margin of 36.57% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVGO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $510.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Broadcom to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Broadcom from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $439.97.

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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