Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,741 Shares of Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Key Points

• Oppenheimer Asset Management trimmed its Broadcom stake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,741 shares but still holding 307,173 shares worth about $106.3 million.
• Broadcom continues to draw strong analyst support, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of $435.30.
• The company reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share; however, shares face some pressure from reports that an OpenAI custom chip deal hit a financing snag.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 307,173 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,741 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 1.3% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $106,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 8,562 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 303,523 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $105,049,000 after purchasing an additional 26,795 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Family Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $770,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 5,430 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVGO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Broadcom from $510.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Broadcom from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Broadcom from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $435.30.

Broadcom Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of AVGO opened at $430.00 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.52 and a 52 week high of $437.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.98, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $352.89 and a 200-day moving average of $351.28.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 36.57%.The company had revenue of $19.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. Broadcom's revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 23rd. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.78%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total transaction of $16,236,940.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,450,145.60. This trade represents a 15.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 39,116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.61, for a total value of $12,580,096.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,000,467.86. This represents a 34.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 324,282 shares of company stock valued at $106,425,249 over the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Broadcom

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Broadcom shares are under pressure after reports said OpenAI’s planned $18 billion custom chip deal with the company hit a financing roadblock, creating uncertainty around a key AI revenue driver. Broadcom shares slump as OpenAI’s $18B custom chip deal hits financing snag
• Negative Sentiment: Another report framed the OpenAI issue as a major setback for Broadcom’s custom AI chip ambitions, adding concern that one of its flagship customer relationships may not be as immediately monetizable as investors hoped. Broadcom's OpenAI mega AI deal hits $18 billion wall
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom also announced VMware by Broadcom VCF 9.1, a product update aimed at accelerating production AI workloads in private clouds, which supports the company’s long-term enterprise AI strategy. Broadcom (AVGO) Launches VCF 9.1 to Accelerate Production AI in Private Clouds
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces remained constructive on Broadcom’s position in the AI infrastructure stack, noting that recent hyperscaler results still support demand for chips and networking tied to AI buildouts. Big Tech earnings support Broadcom’s outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom was also mentioned in a public-sector VMware partnership update, which could help broaden enterprise distribution but is not likely the main driver of the stock today. evoila U.S. and Carahsoft Partner to Deliver VMware by Broadcom Services to the Public Sector

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc NASDAQ: AVGO is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company's semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom's portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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