Wesbanco Bank Inc. Has $118 Million Stake in Broadcom Inc. $AVGO

Wesbanco Bank Inc. cut its position in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 340,952 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 5,369 shares during the period. Broadcom accounts for approximately 3.2% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $118,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 8,362 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,894,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 24,761 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $8,570,000 after purchasing an additional 3,140 shares in the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,200 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,299,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd bought a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth about $1,471,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 62,368 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo and other analysts turned more bullish on Broadcom’s AI chip and data-center networking business, saying Wall Street may be underestimating demand from hyperscaler buildouts. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom is being framed as one of the main winners of the AI capital-spending cycle, with multiple articles highlighting accelerating custom AI silicon revenue and expectations for continued earnings growth into the next report. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also helped by major institutions and high-profile investors continuing to add to Broadcom positions, reinforcing the view that the AI thesis remains intact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom’s valuation remains elevated after its sharp run, so the stock may be sensitive to any sign that AI growth slows or expectations become too optimistic.
• Negative Sentiment: The company is also facing an EU antitrust lawsuit over VMware-related document requests, which adds a legal overhang even though it is not the main driver of today’s move. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, insider S. Ram Velaga sold 38,841 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $12,491,265.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 96,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,920,875.20. This represents a 28.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.60, for a total value of $16,236,940.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 278,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,450,145.60. This represents a 15.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 324,282 shares of company stock valued at $106,425,249 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadcom Trading Up 5.5%

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $439.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.90, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $363.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $354.12. Broadcom Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.60 and a 1-year high of $442.36.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $19.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 36.57%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Broadcom from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Broadcom from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $439.97.

About Broadcom

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.