Sabal Trust CO Increases Stock Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Sabal Trust CO lifted its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 77.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,418 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,728 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $2,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AVGO. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $357,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 78,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 21.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in Broadcom by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,056 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. 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 analyst reports. Benchmark upped their target price on Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.25.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Broadcom stock opened at $270.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $227.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $271.67. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 101.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.27, for a total value of $9,497,164.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 325,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,066,115.49. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.17, for a total value of $10,486,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 974,152 shares in the company, valued at $255,393,429.84. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 337,818 shares of company stock valued at $84,167,415 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.