Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Up 2.3% – Time to Buy?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price shot up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $239.50 and last traded at $237.06. 11,309,742 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 30,456,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.88.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 201.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $188.87 and a 200-day moving average of $173.02.

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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 191.87%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total transaction of $10,798,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,246,926.56. This represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 15,950 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.44, for a total value of $2,893,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 737,330 shares in the company, valued at $133,781,155.20. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 154,408 shares of company stock valued at $33,412,228. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Broadcom by 948.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 976.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after buying an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 842.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $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 grew its stake in Broadcom by 975.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.