Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares shot up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $246.89 and last traded at $242.30. 7,017,030 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 24,210,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.83.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $207.20 and a 200-day moving average of $180.10. The company has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 199.59, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced 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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,809,191.40. This represents a 5.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NCP Inc. lifted its position in Broadcom by 615.4% during the 2nd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 465 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 257.1% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 12,167 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $19,535,000 after purchasing an additional 8,760 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its position in Broadcom by 1.8% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 158,744 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $260,467,000 after buying an additional 2,795 shares during the last quarter. Element Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 112.8% in the 2nd quarter. Element Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 566 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its position in Broadcom by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. EDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,133 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Broadcom

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.