Eastern Bank Sells 8,064 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Eastern Bank trimmed its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 670,177 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 8,064 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 2.9% of Eastern Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $155,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Kades & Cheifetz LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kades & Cheifetz LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,584 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Broadcom by 2.4% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,507 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Michael S. Ryan Inc. boosted its position in Broadcom by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 8,959 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 14.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 510 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total value of $4,815,916.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at $76,809,191.40. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $225.29 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.17. Broadcom Inc. has a one year low of $109.02 and a one year high of $251.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 195.73, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AVGO. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.54.

Broadcom 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.