Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Down 1.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price dropped 1.1% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $246.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as low as $203.85 and last traded at $205.12. Approximately 10,672,787 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 29,528,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.36.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 40,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.98, for a total transaction of $9,279,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 696,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,627,425.40. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,308,000. This trade represents a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Broadcom by 948.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after buying an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $17,055,760,000 after acquiring an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,998,328 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 975.4% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $967.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 168.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.05.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 192.50%.

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.