Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Bought by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889,361 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for 1.7% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $148,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,573,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 3.0% in 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 stake in Broadcom by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $21,624,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873,809 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at about $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $11,380,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVGO. Mizuho raised their target price on Broadcom from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Benchmark increased their target price on Broadcom from $255.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.25.

Broadcom Stock Down 5.0%

Broadcom stock opened at $246.95 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $265.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 201.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.96 EPS. Research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued 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 yield of 0.96%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $148,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,695,300. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock valued at $131,249,694. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.