First Merchants Corp Has $42.70 Million Stake in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp reduced its Broadcom stake by 7.8% in the first quarter, but it still held 137,951 shares worth about $42.7 million, making Broadcom its 11th-largest position.
• Broadcom continues to draw attention for its AI-driven growth, with reports citing record semiconductor sales, strong bookings, and long-term demand tied to hyperscaler custom AI chips and networking. JPMorgan and other bulls also view recent weakness as a potential buying opportunity.
• Despite some sector-wide selling and a few downgrade concerns, Wall Street remains broadly upbeat: analysts on average rate AVGO a Moderate Buy, and Broadcom recently beat earnings expectations while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share.

First Merchants Corp trimmed its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 137,951 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 11,632 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises about 1.6% of First Merchants Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Broadcom were worth $42,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,252,196,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Broadcom by 895.2% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 12,689,800 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,391,940,000 after buying an additional 11,414,701 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Broadcom by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,084,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $65,788,194,000 after buying an additional 5,040,801 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Broadcom by 499.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,634,232 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,858,789,000 after buying an additional 4,694,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 482,707,302 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $167,064,997,000 after acquiring an additional 3,919,715 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom’s AI business remains a major strength, with reports highlighting record semiconductor sales, strong bookings, and customer commitments tied to hyperscaler demand for custom AI chips and networking. Broadcom's AI Push Boosts Semiconductor Sales: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan and other bullish commentary suggested the recent dip could be a buying opportunity, citing Broadcom’s locked-in AI chip partnership with Google through 2031 and expanding AI platform initiatives. Ignore the noise: Top bank says AVGO stock dip is a buying opportunity, points to locked-in Broadcom–Google AI chip deal through 2031
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom continues to draw investor attention thanks to its AI XPV platform and custom XPUs, which could support future AI compute demand, but this is more of a long-term growth story than a near-term stock catalyst. How Broadcom’s (AVGO) AI XPV Platform Ties Its Custom XPUs to the Next Wave of AI Compute Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings comparisons showed Broadcom still performing well versus peers, but this appears to be more of a recap of already-known quarterly strength than a new catalyst. A look back at processors and graphics chips stocks’ Q1 earnings: Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO vs the rest of the pack
• Negative Sentiment: A Barron’s report said Broadcom fell along with other chip stocks in a broader tech selloff, suggesting the stock is being hit by sector-wide risk aversion rather than company-specific weakness. Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom Fall as Tech Selloff Catches Up With Chips
• Negative Sentiment: Broadcom also faced a rating downgrade from Wall Street Zen and a Seeking Alpha note warning that its infrastructure exposure and leverage could create risk despite strong AI momentum. Broadcom: $2 Trillion AI Debt Engine Meets High Infrastructural Risk (Rating Downgrade)

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.23, for a total transaction of $3,452,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 787,184 shares in the company, valued at $271,759,532.32. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 4,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.91, for a total transaction of $1,905,440.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 269,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $106,621,355.99. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,385 shares of company stock valued at $21,301,057. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AVGO shares. Morgan Stanley set a $502.00 price target on Broadcom and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on Broadcom from $450.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $485.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.24.

Broadcom Stock Down 3.1%

NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $380.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $258.77 and a 12-month high of $495.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $412.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $363.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 63.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid 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 yield of 0.7%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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