Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading 2.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s share price shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $260.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as high as $237.59 and last traded at $234.80. 9,984,966 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 23,185,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.41.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total value of $2,886,323.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 325,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,728,221.66. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This trade represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Castleview Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,030.8% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,323.1% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 1,073.7% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 223 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $200.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.11.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Broadcom Company 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.