Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 0.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) dropped 0.2% on Monday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $210.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as low as $178.68 and last traded at $181.58. Approximately 8,700,716 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 31,277,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.94.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AVGO. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total value of $120,578,041.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,798,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $4,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,872,080. This trade represents a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 718,976 shares of company stock worth $130,917,542 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $841.41 billion, a PE ratio of 145.96, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.