Moors & Cabot Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Key Points

• Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stake in Broadcom Inc. by 5.4%, owning 133,532 shares valued at approximately $22.36 million, now making up about 1.1% of its holdings.
• Several large investors have increased their positions in Broadcom, with Massachusetts Financial Services Co. lifting its holdings by 170% in the last quarter, now owning over 2.5 million shares.
• Broadcom's stock is currently rated as mostly a "buy" by analysts, with an average price target of $294.92 following positive earnings reports and upgrades from multiple institutions.

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 133,532 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 7,620 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for about 1.1% of Moors & Cabot Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $22,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 750 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 2.4% in the first quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 3.8% in the first quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Broadcom by 0.5% in the first quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 11,397 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,908,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. HSBC raised Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Broadcom to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Broadcom from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $338.00 price target on Broadcom and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $294.92.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO stock traded down $5.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $288.64. 21,405,316 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,995,794. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.50 and a 1-year high of $306.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 108.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $266.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.55.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.96 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were 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 directly owned 38,188,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,132,574,604.75. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total transaction of $29,782,175.78. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.