Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) rose 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $240.23 and last traded at $239.68. Approximately 22,827,188 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 30,531,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.88.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 213.17, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 191.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total value of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,460 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total transaction of $2,886,323.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 325,443 shares in the company, valued at $74,728,221.66. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,240 shares of company stock valued at $22,915,911 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Broadcom during the second quarter worth about $128,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter worth approximately $136,000. Semus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Broadcom during the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, WPWealth LLP bought a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.