Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 1.7%

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 1.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $1,296.02 and last traded at $1,308.87. 752,538 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,084,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,331.49.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AVGO. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,720.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,500.00 target price (up from $1,100.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $1,300.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $1,405.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom to $1,480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,230.18.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $607.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,263.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,058.13.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. The company had revenue of $11.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.79 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 29.93% and a return on equity of 47.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 36.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a $5.25 dividend. This represents a $21.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 77.84%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,043.14, for a total transaction of $2,607,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,039,603.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kenneth Hao sold 9,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,388.13, for a total value of $12,715,270.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 45 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,465.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.14, for a total transaction of $2,607,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,039,603.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,810 shares of company stock worth $19,387,692. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 50.1% during the 2nd quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its holdings in Broadcom by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 6,362 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,284,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Broadcom by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 72,129 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $59,909,000 after acquiring an additional 22,774 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,684,000. Finally, Aspen Grove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Aspen Grove Capital LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

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.