Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Position Lessened by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lessened its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,953 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 10,370 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 2.0% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $25,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $110,155,206,000 after buying an additional 6,573,204 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% in 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 buying an additional 3,018,294 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $21,624,718,000 after buying an additional 2,873,809 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $11,380,411,000 after buying an additional 5,258,925 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total transaction of $2,528,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 789,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,720,577.92. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,564,585.40. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 849,134 shares of company stock worth $163,760,949 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AVGO opened at $249.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $220.48 and its 200 day moving average is $212.17. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $265.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 93.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $10.96 earnings per share. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

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

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.