Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stake Lowered by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,091,646 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,124,856 shares during the quarter. Broadcom makes up about 1.4% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Broadcom worth $948,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Bellevue Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.2%

AVGO opened at $208.26 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $128.50 and a 52 week high of $251.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $182.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.68. The firm has a market cap of $979.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 169.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Broadcom declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 113.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $120,578,041.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,045,847,733.60. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $4,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,872,080. This trade represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 719,776 shares of company stock worth $131,065,542 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVGO. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.48.

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.