Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Lowers Stock Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 834,525 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 117,479 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $187,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 2,219.8% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,019.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,182,409 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,238,966,000 after acquiring an additional 6,540,800 shares during the period. Invst LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 928.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 793.3% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 900.9% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 15,904 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,743,000 after buying an additional 14,315 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $5,839,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. This trade represents a 5.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 719,776 shares of company stock worth $131,065,542 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVGO. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.48.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $192.47 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $182.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.33 and a 1-year high of $251.88. The stock has a market cap of $904.98 billion, a PE ratio of 156.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

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.