Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 1.6% – Time to Sell?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) traded down 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $231.31 and last traded at $231.84. 17,898,252 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 30,456,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.88.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 201.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $190.08 and its 200-day moving average is $173.46.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total value of $10,798,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 399,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,744,366. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 154,408 shares of company stock worth $33,412,228. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. NCP Inc. boosted its stake in Broadcom by 615.4% in the second quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 465 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 643.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 52,533 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $84,343,000 after purchasing an additional 45,466 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $8,077,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the second quarter worth $233,000. Finally, Commons Capital LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 8.2% in the second quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.