Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Up 2.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s share price traded up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $260.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as high as $237.59 and last traded at $234.80. 9,984,966 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 23,185,277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.41.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares in the company, valued at $26,606,317.50. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 696,730 shares in the company, valued at $161,627,425.40. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Broadcom by 948.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after acquiring an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% during the 3rd 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 position in 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 acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 975.4% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 193.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 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.