BNP Paribas Purchases 6,707 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

BNP Paribas increased its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 406,604 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,707 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for approximately 4.0% of BNP Paribas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Broadcom were worth $94,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,573,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,018,294 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $21,624,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth about $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $11,380,411,000 after acquiring an additional 5,258,925 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,695,300. This trade represents a 3.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,564,585.40. This trade represents a 5.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 719,776 shares of company stock valued at $131,065,542 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $203.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.61. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.51 and a 12 month high of $251.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $957.50 billion, a PE ratio of 166.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 113.46%.

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

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.