Bard Financial Services Inc. Reduces Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,775 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $357,000. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 78,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,882,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $71,312,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AVGO. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,564,585.40. The trade was 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 valued at $131,249,694 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $244.63 on Wednesday. Broadcom Inc. has a 12-month low of $128.50 and a 12-month high of $265.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 199.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $206.98 and a 200 day moving average of $207.63.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.