Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is First Trust Advisors LP’s 2nd Largest Position

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,959,938 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 87,537 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 1.4% of First Trust Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.15% of Broadcom worth $1,613,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 2,219.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,019.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,182,409 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,238,966,000 after buying an additional 6,540,800 shares during the period. Invst LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 928.6% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 793.3% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 402 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its stake in Broadcom by 900.9% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 15,904 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14,315 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Broadcom from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.28.

Broadcom Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $170.99 on Friday. Broadcom Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.76 and a fifty-two week high of $251.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $189.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $803.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.47, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom 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 owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,695,300. This represents a 3.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 719,776 shares of company stock worth $131,065,542. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.