Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 3.1% After Insider Selling

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares dropped 3.1% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $231.62 and last traded at $234.16. Approximately 8,794,323 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 30,428,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.75.

Specifically, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total value of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. The trade was a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total transaction of $10,798,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total value of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. The trade was a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.88.

Broadcom Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 204.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $186.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.85. 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 posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Broadcom by 948.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,814,902,000 after acquiring an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after purchasing an additional 89,975,941 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after buying an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 842.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after buying an additional 32,178,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 975.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,833,894,000 after buying an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

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.