Washington Trust Bank Buys 2,052 Shares of Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Washington Trust Bank increased its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,171 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up 3.3% of Washington Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $45,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 0.6% in the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. McHugh Group LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 0.4% during the third quarter. McHugh Group LLC now owns 8,433 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,782,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its position in Broadcom by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,939 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management lifted its stake in Broadcom by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 1,235 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 837 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Harry L. You purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $325.13 per share, for a total transaction of $325,130.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 36,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,900,408.26. This represents a 2.81% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.30, for a total transaction of $24,311,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,133,942.80. This trade represents a 34.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 779,901 shares of company stock worth $284,069,237 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Broadcom

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness around AI upside — Jefferies named Broadcom one of three chip stocks with expected earnings upside as AI demand accelerates, reinforcing growth expectations for AVGO. 3 Chip Stocks to Buy for 2026, According to an Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Higher Wall Street targets and estimates — KeyCorp reiterated an Overweight stance with a $500 price target and raised multi-quarter EPS projections, supporting upside expectations for growth and margins. KeyCorp estimates and rating
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying signal — Cathie Wood’s ARK added to Broadcom, a visible endorsement for growth-oriented investors focused on AI exposure. Cathie Wood Goes Bargain Hunting: 3 Stocks She Just Bought
• Positive Sentiment: Sell-side defense on competitive fears — Bernstein and Seeking Alpha pieces push back on AI-competition and margin worries, reducing tail-risk narratives that could have pressured shares. Bernstein Dismisses AI Competition Fears Surrounding Broadcom (AVGO)
• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwind — TSMC’s strong results lifted chip stocks broadly, providing positive momentum for Broadcom as investors rotate into AI/infrastructure plays. Chip stocks pop after TSMC’s earnings beat
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC initiates coverage with Sector Perform — a neutral/steadying rating that removes uncertainty but doesn’t add strong buy-side pressure. RBC Capital initiates coverage of Broadcom
• Negative Sentiment: Debt issuance may worry some investors — Broadcom filed for a $4.5B senior notes offering to fund operations and repay loans; higher leverage or signaling needs for cash can temper sentiment. Broadcom Issues $4.5B in Notes as AI Concerns Linger
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling headlines — recent reports of ~$490M in insider sales and a CEO sale (~$24M) are being viewed negatively by some investors as a signal of management liquidity or timing. Broadcom Insiders Sold US$490m Of Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical risk — reports that China banned Broadcom’s cybersecurity products introduce potential revenue/market-access risk in a key region. China Just Banned Broadcom’s Cybersecurity Solutions
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns — Zacks highlights a high price-to-sales multiple and flags the stock as overvalued, which can pressure momentum investors. At 15.93 P/S, Broadcom Is Overvalued

Broadcom Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of AVGO opened at $351.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $358.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 73.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.21. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.10 and a twelve month high of $414.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.08. Broadcom had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 37.45%. The company had revenue of $18.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVGO. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Broadcom from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 target price on Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Broadcom from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $438.61.

Broadcom Profile

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.