Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 81,597 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,181 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up 1.0% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $13,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $110,155,206,000 after acquiring an additional 6,573,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $23,647,209,000 after buying an additional 3,018,294 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $21,624,718,000 after buying an additional 2,873,809 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Broadcom by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $11,380,411,000 after buying an additional 5,258,925 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded down $3.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $283.34. 15,006,524 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,811,482. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $254.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 106.12, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.50 and a 12-month high of $288.28. 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 (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.96 EPS. Broadcom's revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This represents a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total value of $14,176,042.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 361,937 shares in the company, valued at $91,117,639.75. This trade represents a 13.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock valued at $217,224,641 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $292.08.

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.