Highland Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,393 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,626 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 2.6% of Highland Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $43,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $110,155,206,000 after acquiring an additional 6,573,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $23,647,209,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018,294 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $21,624,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873,809 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Broadcom by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $11,380,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total transaction of $125,739,356.34. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $148,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,695,300. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 811,716 shares of company stock worth $209,906,771. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AVGO. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Broadcom from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 15th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $281.25.

Broadcom Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AVGO opened at $269.35 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $271.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $229.43 and a 200 day moving average of $215.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 100.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.96 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

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.

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