LS Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 15.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,958 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 11,429 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.7% of LS Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. LS Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $10,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $276.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $270.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.19, for a total value of $184,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,026,834.58. The trade was a 2.96% 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, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 490,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

NASDAQ:AVGO traded down $12.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $246.95. The company had a trading volume of 41,055,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,954,185. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 201.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $265.43. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $202.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.65.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Company 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.