Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 3.1% – Time to Sell?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares traded down 3.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $157.54 and last traded at $159.67. 19,722,723 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 18,886,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.96.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $757.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.69.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 184.19%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total value of $2,893,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 737,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,781,155.20. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 380,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,596,812.80. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 311,080 shares of company stock valued at $53,540,590. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Trust raised its holdings in Broadcom by 863.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 4,240 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 1,590.2% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,767 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,114.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,113,921 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,849,270,000 after acquiring an additional 19,375,547 shares during the last quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 891.2% during the third quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,381 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,413,000 after purchasing an additional 28,215 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,049.2% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 141,934 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $24,482,000 after purchasing an additional 129,583 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by 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.