Baring Financial LLC Acquires New Holdings in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Baring Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,271 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in Broadcom by 3.8% in 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 buying an additional 18,845 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 1,100.8% in the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after buying an additional 14,399 shares during the last quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 1,211.3% in the fourth quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,013 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,263,000 after buying an additional 24,953 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in Broadcom by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 634,112 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $149,017,000 after buying an additional 168,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Broadcom by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 34,380 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AVGO opened at $241.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $128.50 and a 12 month high of $251.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $194.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 197.37, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Broadcom from $260.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $148,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,695,300. This trade represents a 3.06% 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 hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,872,080. The trade was a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock valued at $131,249,694. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.