Broadcom Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 656,666 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 168% compared to the typical volume of 245,075 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.88.

Broadcom Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $220.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.82, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. Broadcom has a 12-month low of $104.15 and a 12-month high of $251.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $179.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The company’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Broadcom will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In related news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 150,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.94, for a total transaction of $25,941,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,181,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,399,515.40. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,420 shares of company stock worth $42,701,286 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 291,078 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $467,334,000 after purchasing an additional 7,608 shares in the last quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 829.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 943.3% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after buying an additional 18,206 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Broadcom by 947.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 689,858 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $119,000,000 after acquiring an additional 623,983 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 912.6% in the third quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,802 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is 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.