Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $233.00 to $265.00. The stock had previously closed at $220.20, but opened at $226.69. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom shares last traded at $227.94, with a volume of 9,733,892 shares traded.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AVGO. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total transaction of $3,591,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 399,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,744,366. This trade represents a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.94, for a total transaction of $25,941,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,181,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,399,515.40. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,420 shares of company stock worth $42,701,286 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,030.8% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,323.1% in the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 1,073.7% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 223 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 900.0% during the third quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 240 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 3.5 %

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’s 50-day moving average price is $179.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 198.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced 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 for 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 191.87%.

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.