Covestor Ltd Buys 430 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,842 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 0.4% of Covestor Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Paralel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 18,940 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,391,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,599 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,171,415 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $503,421,000 after buying an additional 17,245 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 495,701 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $114,927,000 after purchasing an additional 13,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 315,109 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $73,055,000 after purchasing an additional 11,161 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,564,585.40. This represents a 5.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.48.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO stock traded down $11.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $174.00. The company had a trading volume of 7,333,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,120,084. The company has a market capitalization of $818.14 billion, a PE ratio of 141.93, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $119.76 and a one year high of $251.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.96.

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

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom Company Profile

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.