Howard Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in Broadcom by 25.8%, now owning 192,334 shares valued at approximately $32.20 million, which represents 0.6% of their portfolio.
• Broadcom's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.58, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, with a 20.2% year-over-year revenue growth to $15 billion.
• The company announced a $10 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management’s belief that its shares are undervalued while also providing a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share.

Howard Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 25.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,334 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 66,728 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for about 0.6% of Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $32,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 18,179.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,276,164 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,892,548,000 after buying an additional 17,181,652 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 47,524,533 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $11,018,089,000 after purchasing an additional 15,171,849 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $11,380,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258,925 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 609.4% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 4,379,348 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $980,500,000 after acquiring an additional 3,762,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $23,647,209,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018,294 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AVGO. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on Broadcom from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. HSBC upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $315.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $294.92.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total value of $2,528,800.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 789,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,720,577.92. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 1,014,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock valued at $217,224,641. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO traded down $5.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $288.64. 21,405,316 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,886,023. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $265.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.11. The company has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 108.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.12. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $306.95.

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

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.