Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Up 3.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) traded up 3.4% during mid-day trading on Monday 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 $232.05 and last traded at $227.74. 12,592,956 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 30,441,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $220.20.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total transaction of $3,591,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 399,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,744,366. This represents a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. The trade was a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,420 shares of company stock worth $16,760,286. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 291,078 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $467,334,000 after buying an additional 7,608 shares during the period. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 829.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 943.3% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after buying an additional 18,206 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 947.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 689,858 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $119,000,000 after buying an additional 623,983 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 969.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 386,644 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $66,696,000 after acquiring an additional 350,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 5.2 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $179.49 and a 200-day moving average of $167.66. The company has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 201.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.