Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Up 1.7% – Time to Buy?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares were up 1.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $176.50 and last traded at $174.79. Approximately 4,412,842 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 31,128,328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AVGO shares. TD Cowen raised Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.23.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $822.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.17.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 7,502 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,705.95, for a total value of $12,798,036.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,746,936.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 7,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,705.95, for a total transaction of $12,798,036.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,191 shares in the company, valued at $235,746,936.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,452 shares of company stock valued at $52,950,238 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Broadcom by 826.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,963,813 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $511,258,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,845 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 1st quarter valued at $2,835,737,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,651,273 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $59,181,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,462 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,141,025 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,488,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 48.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,992,833 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,966,730,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.