Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,321 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Broadcom by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,655,402 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,866,684,000 after purchasing an additional 93,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Broadcom by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,025,658 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,343,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,755 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,019,122 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,338,203,000 after purchasing an additional 573,826 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 113,495.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,327,217 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $37,140,060,000 after purchasing an additional 3,324,288 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,206,601 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,663,339,000 after purchasing an additional 514,120 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AVGO. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,720.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,500.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,325.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $1,300.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,500.00 target price (up previously from $1,100.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,285.41.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO traded up $49.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,344.07. 2,409,427 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,935,572. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $622.87 billion, a PE ratio of 49.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,306.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,134.07. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $601.29 and a 1-year high of $1,438.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. Broadcom had a net margin of 29.93% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The company had revenue of $11.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.83 earnings per share. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 35.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $5.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $21.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 3,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,290.34, for a total value of $4,064,571.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,643 shares in the company, valued at $5,991,048.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Justine Page sold 110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,323.00, for a total value of $145,530.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,134,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 3,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,290.34, for a total transaction of $4,064,571.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,643 shares in the company, valued at $5,991,048.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,920 shares of company stock worth $40,306,667. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.