Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 309,018 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 25,072 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $51,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $6,882,000 after buying an additional 5,322 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 31,225 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 25,522 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $5,917,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth approximately $576,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.1%

Broadcom stock traded down $3.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $283.34. 15,006,524 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,811,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $288.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $254.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.33. The company has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 106.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15 billion during 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%. Broadcom's revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.39%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVGO. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Broadcom to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $292.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total value of $29,782,175.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total transaction of $12,664,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 415,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,353,335.68. This trade represents a 10.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Broadcom 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.