Welch & Forbes LLC Buys 32,685 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,158 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 32,685 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Broadcom were worth $29,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 342.5% in the first quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadcom news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total transaction of $14,176,042.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 361,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,117,639.75. This trade represents a 13.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 415,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,353,335.68. This represents a 10.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of AVGO stock traded up $5.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $286.32. 12,523,793 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,950,760. The company's 50-day moving average price is $251.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.63. The company has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 107.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 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 $288.21.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. HSBC raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $315.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.