Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Grows Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Broadcom Inc. by 89.8% in the first quarter, owning a total of 95,206 shares valued at approximately $15.94 million.
• CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares for about $29.78 million, while Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares valued at approximately $125.74 million, reflecting a decrease in their holdings.
• Broadcom's recent earnings report showed a 20.2% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $1.58, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 89.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,206 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 45,054 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $15,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVGO. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its position in Broadcom by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 515,388 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $120,070,000 after purchasing an additional 18,845 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,100.8% in the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,642,000 after buying an additional 14,399 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 5.6% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,016 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $6,365,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 51.6% in the first quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 1,512.3% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 92,629 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $21,660,000 after purchasing an additional 86,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Broadcom stock traded down $4.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $288.99. 13,810,947 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,831,736. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $306.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $265.36 and a 200-day moving average of $224.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.96 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total value of $29,782,175.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total value of $12,664,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 415,956 shares in the company, valued at $105,353,335.68. This trade represents a 10.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AVGO. HSBC raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Broadcom from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $294.92.

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.