Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Sold by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 502,938 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 35,451 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for about 1.2% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $84,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its position in Broadcom by 6.6% in the first quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 27,258 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 6.4% in the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 511,144 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $85,581,000 after acquiring an additional 30,859 shares during the last quarter. Uptown Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 42.1% in the first quarter. Uptown Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,905 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter valued at $1,072,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in Broadcom by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 61,879 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $10,360,000 after acquiring an additional 4,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AVGO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $301.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $292.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.27, for a total value of $9,497,164.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 325,587 shares in the company, valued at $85,066,115.49. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.29, for a total transaction of $10,731,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482,836 shares in the company, valued at $129,540,070.44. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock valued at $217,224,641. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO traded up $1.47 on Friday, hitting $290.18. 12,031,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,076,324. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business's fifty day moving average is $260.05 and its 200 day moving average is $222.13. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $292.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 108.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.12.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

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 $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.