Main Street Research LLC Purchases 13,426 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Main Street Research LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 265,850 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for 2.9% of Main Street Research LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Main Street Research LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $44,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 21.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of 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 boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 25,522 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,917,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,529 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 6,168 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total transaction of $14,176,042.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 361,937 shares in the company, valued at $91,117,639.75. This trade represents a 13.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total value of $125,739,356.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 38,188,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,132,574,604.75. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 854,716 shares of company stock worth $221,433,761. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $275.21. 11,053,653 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,302,831. The company's 50-day moving average is $243.73 and its 200 day moving average is $218.33. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $281.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 103.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 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 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 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership 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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Broadcom from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $290.21.

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.