John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Sells 2,007 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• John G Ullman & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. by 2.2%, holding 87,990 shares valued at approximately $14.73 million, which makes up 2.3% of their portfolio.
• Broadcom's recent earnings report showed earnings per share (EPS) of $1.58, exceeding estimates, with a net margin of 22.64% and revenue growth of 20.2% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $10 billion share buyback plan to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares, indicating confidence in the stock’s undervaluation.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,990 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,007 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises approximately 2.3% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $14,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $6,882,000 after acquiring an additional 5,322 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in Broadcom by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,199 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $51,283,000 after purchasing an additional 31,225 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in Broadcom by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 25,522 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $5,917,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in Broadcom by 326.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,219 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 6,291 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total transaction of $2,528,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 789,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,720,577.92. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owned 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This represents a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO stock traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $292.23. 4,542,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,994,857. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 109.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $260.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.08. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $293.27.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVGO. Bank of America increased their target price on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Broadcom from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.08.

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.