Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $205.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Approximately 21,490,299 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 29,387,973 shares.The stock last traded at $243.08 and had previously closed at $224.80.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. William Blair initiated coverage on Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total value of $3,456,432.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,596,812.80. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.94, for a total transaction of $25,941,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,181,910 shares in the company, valued at $204,399,515.40. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 261,080 shares of company stock worth $45,372,090. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth about $128,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter valued at approximately $136,000. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $169,000. Semus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter worth $204,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $177.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 195.31, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 191.87%.

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.