Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Buys 38,362 Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 134,589 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 38,362 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 1.9% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $216,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 19 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its position in Broadcom by 242.9% in the first quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 24 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $174.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $813.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $156.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.42. Broadcom Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.44 and a 52-week high of $185.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The company’s revenue was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Broadcom from $162.50 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Broadcom from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Broadcom from $173.50 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.23.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total transaction of $4,240,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 753,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,754,425.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 82,702 shares of company stock valued at $25,206,941. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.