Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP Cuts Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP cut its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 651,745 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 13,372 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 4.6% of Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP's holdings in Broadcom were worth $109,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVGO. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total transaction of $125,739,356.34. Following the sale, the director owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total transaction of $14,176,042.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 361,937 shares in the company, valued at $91,117,639.75. This represents a 13.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 854,716 shares of company stock worth $221,433,761. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AVGO traded up $4.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $274.87. 10,592,655 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,686,867. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 102.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $277.71.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for 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 last year, the business posted $10.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Broadcom's payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AVGO. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Broadcom from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $281.46.

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.