Griffin Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,677 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on AVGO shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Broadcom to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $304.00 price objective (up from $267.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.09.

Broadcom Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded down $2.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $249.37. 21,937,596 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,309,896. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 203.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $214.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.47. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $265.43.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.96 EPS. Broadcom's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,489,182.32. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total value of $2,528,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 789,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,720,577.92. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 848,334 shares of company stock valued at $163,560,669. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

About Broadcom

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.