Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) traded up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $175.39 and last traded at $171.01. 6,678,305 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 28,924,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AVGO. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.96.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $788.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $173.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 184.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 10,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.14, for a total value of $1,671,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,171,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,873,037.40. This trade represents a 0.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gayla J. Delly sold 750 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.53, for a total value of $130,897.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,064,917.50. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 89,975,941 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after buying an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 842.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Company Profile

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.