Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Up 3.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shot up 3.8% during trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $233.00 to $265.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as high as $228.58 and last traded at $226.71. 19,654,818 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 30,055,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.32.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total transaction of $2,893,968.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 737,330 shares in the company, valued at $133,781,155.20. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 399,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,744,366. This represents a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 242,420 shares of company stock worth $42,701,286 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Broadcom by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,507 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 14.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 510 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 6.2% during the second quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,856,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 4.0% during the second quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,818,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decatur Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Broadcom by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,166 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,083,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 191.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

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.