Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $180.00 to $233.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

AVGO has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.33.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO opened at $224.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.45. Broadcom has a 52-week low of $104.15 and a 52-week high of $228.70. 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 company has a market cap of $1.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 182.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Broadcom will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 172.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 737,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,781,155.20. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NCP Inc. grew its position in Broadcom by 615.4% in the 2nd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 465 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Family Investment Center Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Broadcom by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 177,453 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $284,906,000 after acquiring an additional 6,140 shares in the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its position in Broadcom by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 4,773 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $7,664,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 12.4% in the second quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Company Profile

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.