Balentine LLC Has $410,000 Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Balentine LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 29.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,447 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Broadcom by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $110,155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 6,573,204 shares during the period. 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 valued at $23,647,209,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018,294 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,873,809 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $283.34 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $254.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.33. 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 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $288.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 106.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Broadcom declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadcom news, Director Gayla J. Delly sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total value of $795,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,842,615.76. This represents a 8.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 36,350 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.27, for a total transaction of $9,497,164.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 325,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,066,115.49. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.08.

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.