Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 786,424 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 23,031 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up 2.6% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $131,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AVGO. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Broadcom from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.71.

Broadcom Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $252.91 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $209.12 and its 200-day moving average is $207.94. The company has a market cap of $1.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 206.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.50 and a 52-week high of $265.43.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly 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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total value of $120,578,041.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694 in the last ninety days. 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.