ERn Financial LLC Lowers Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

ERn Financial LLC decreased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,095 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 232 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $110,155,206,000 after buying an additional 6,573,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $23,647,209,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018,294 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $21,624,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,380,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258,925 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $251.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 94.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.11. 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 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $265.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS 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 company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.96 earnings per share. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AVGO. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.09.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total transaction of $29,782,175.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,014,152 shares in the company, valued at $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.35, for a total value of $200,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,354,383.70. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 849,134 shares of company stock worth $163,760,949. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

About Broadcom

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.