First Business Financial Services Inc. Decreases Position in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

First Business Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,835 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,102 shares during the quarter. Broadcom accounts for 1.1% of First Business Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $12,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth $18,579,549,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 483,442,939 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $133,261,046,000 after buying an additional 6,222,802 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom in the second quarter worth $1,571,438,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Broadcom by 115.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,017,340 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,658,680,000 after buying an additional 3,224,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 8.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 38,449,630 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,598,641,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978,768 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total value of $10,434,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 277,237 shares in the company, valued at $96,428,573.34. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 130,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.02, for a total transaction of $42,382,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 595,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,189,900.76. The trade was a 17.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 779,901 shares of company stock worth $284,069,237. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AVGO shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $443.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $438.61.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $332.79 on Wednesday. Broadcom Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.10 and a 12 month high of $414.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $356.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $336.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 69.91, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $18.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 22nd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 54.62%.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.