Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) by 1,270.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,015 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 122,379 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Broadcom were worth $30,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in Broadcom by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 515,388 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $120,070,000 after buying an additional 18,845 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Motive Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,076.5% in the fourth quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 1,100.8% during the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,399 shares during the period. Finally, TTP Investments Inc. raised its stake in Broadcom by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 60,649 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $14,061,000 after purchasing an additional 25,330 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Up 3.3%

Broadcom stock traded up $7.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $228.82. 4,445,917 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,139,201. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $183.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.02. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $251.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Broadcom's payout ratio is presently 113.46%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVGO has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.48.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $148,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,695,300. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 719,776 shares of company stock valued at $131,065,542 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Company 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.