Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stake Boosted by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 34.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,434 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for about 0.9% of Legato Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $6,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the first quarter valued at $26,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,489,182.32. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 415,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,353,335.68. The trade was a 10.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock valued at $217,224,641 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock traded up $5.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $288.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,378,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,262,137. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $257.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.40. 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 market cap of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 108.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.12. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $291.20.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is 88.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AVGO. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. HSBC upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Broadcom from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.08.

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.