First Merchants Corp Sells 2,247 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

First Merchants Corp lessened its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 196,092 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,247 shares during the period. Broadcom comprises 1.3% of First Merchants Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Broadcom were worth $32,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth approximately $357,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 78,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $18,145,000 after buying an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $6,882,000 after buying an additional 5,322 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,056 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Broadcom to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $281.25.

Broadcom Trading Down 0.3%

AVGO stock opened at $269.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 100.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.11. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $271.85. The firm's 50-day moving average is $229.43 and its 200 day moving average is $215.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The firm's revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.96 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $4,500,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,872,080. This trade represents a 5.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total transaction of $125,739,356.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,188,575 shares in the company, valued at $10,132,574,604.75. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 811,716 shares of company stock worth $209,906,771. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AVGO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.