First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,283 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 29,368 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up approximately 0.4% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $22,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,985,000. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Broadcom by 36.5% in the first quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 3,588 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 4.9% in the first quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 5,546 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,782 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.19, for a total transaction of $184,152.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,182 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,834.58. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $95,564,585.40. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Broadcom from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.25.

Broadcom Stock Down 5.0%

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $246.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 201.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.81. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $265.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 88.39%.

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.