Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Down 2.8% on Insider Selling

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) traded down 2.8% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $236.35 and last traded at $238.40. 9,867,720 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 30,437,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.36.

Specifically, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total value of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. This trade represents a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total transaction of $2,886,323.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 325,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,728,221.66. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.88.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $184.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.51. The company has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 206.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. 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 issued 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. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 191.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVGO. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 976.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $17,055,760,000 after acquiring an additional 89,975,941 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,998,328 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Broadcom by 842.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,209,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 975.4% in 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 worth $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in 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.