Leavell Investment Management Inc. Buys 2,128 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,978 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,128 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $16,893,010,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 18,179.3% during 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 increased its position in Broadcom by 46.9% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 15,171,849 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,213,160 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,367,819,000 after buying an additional 6,809,245 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Broadcom by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $110,155,206,000 after buying an additional 6,573,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total transaction of $12,664,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 415,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,353,335.68. This trade represents a 10.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,350 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.27, for a total value of $9,497,164.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 325,587 shares in the company, valued at $85,066,115.49. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 829,716 shares of company stock valued at $216,933,761. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AVGO stock traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.38. 14,264,387 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,130,551. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $245.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.63. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.50 and a 1-year high of $281.18. The company has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12. 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 (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 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 firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AVGO. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $315.00 price objective on the stock. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.21.

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.