Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,825,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 1,827,457 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up 1.3% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.12% of Broadcom worth $1,350,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth about $16,893,010,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,114.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,113,921 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,849,270,000 after acquiring an additional 19,375,547 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,213,160 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,367,819,000 after acquiring an additional 6,809,245 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 1.4% during 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Broadcom by 1,019.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,182,409 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,238,966,000 after purchasing an additional 6,540,800 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVGO has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.28.

Broadcom Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of AVGO opened at $174.61 on Thursday. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.76 and a fifty-two week high of $251.88. The firm has a market cap of $821.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.42, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $192.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given 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 yield of 1.35%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $4,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares in the company, valued at $83,872,080. This trade represents a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 719,776 shares of company stock valued at $131,065,542. 2.00% of the stock is currently 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.