Sterling Financial Group Inc. Purchases 158 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Sterling Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,888 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its position in Broadcom by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 515,388 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $120,070,000 after purchasing an additional 18,845 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,100.8% in the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,399 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Broadcom by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 34,380 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Broadcom by 50.6% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,056 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,512.3% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 92,629 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $21,660,000 after acquiring an additional 86,884 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $304.00 price objective (up previously from $267.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Broadcom from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $4,500,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,872,080. This trade represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $148,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,695,300. This represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. 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. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Broadcom Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO opened at $252.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.94.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS 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 company had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.96 earnings per share. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

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

Broadcom declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally 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.