Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Up 4.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares were up 4.6% during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $462.00 to $470.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as high as $348.49 and last traded at $345.75. Approximately 40,184,483 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 52% from the average daily volume of 26,500,820 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.48.

AVGO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Broadcom from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $370.00 to $340.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.30.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 38,281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.65, for a total value of $12,542,769.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 266,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,316,759.10. The trade was a 12.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 130,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.02, for a total transaction of $42,382,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 595,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,189,900.76. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 458,785 shares of company stock worth $155,508,157. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,882,000 after buying an additional 5,322 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in Broadcom by 76.5% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,339 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 10.1% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,693 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 10.5% in the second quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Up 4.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $333.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $343.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 67.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.22.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $19.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.10 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 36.57%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.78%.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.