Peoples Financial Services CORP. Sells 3,292 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lessened its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,429 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 3,292 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 2.8% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Peoples Financial Services CORP.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $5,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $6,882,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Broadcom by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,199 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $51,283,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Broadcom by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Broadcom by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,529 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 6,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $105,353,335.68. This represents a 10.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.27, for a total transaction of $9,497,164.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 325,587 shares in the company, valued at $85,066,115.49. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 854,716 shares of company stock worth $221,433,761 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AVGO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Broadcom from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Broadcom from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $277.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $279.94. The company has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 104.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.33.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.96 EPS. The company's revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to buy 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.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

About Broadcom

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.

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