Ascent Group LLC Boosts Stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,174 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 0.9% of Ascent Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $11,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth about $540,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 12,021 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,695,694 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $624,970,000 after acquiring an additional 183,474 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 33,173 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $7,691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AVGO. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $228.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $251.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $201.42.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.