Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares traded down 0.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $229.00 and last traded at $231.43. 7,841,272 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 19,227,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.88.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $191.27 and a 200 day moving average of $173.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 202.04, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 191.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total value of $2,886,323.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 325,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,728,221.66. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total value of $3,456,432.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,596,812.80. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,408 shares of company stock worth $33,412,228 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the third 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 grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,209,758,000 after buying an additional 32,178,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% in 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 valued at $5,833,894,000 after buying an additional 30,674,902 shares during the period. 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.