Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Down 3.1% on Insider Selling

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s share price was down 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $221.25 and last traded at $222.16. Approximately 8,456,825 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 23,750,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.31.

Specifically, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.98, for a total transaction of $9,279,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 696,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,627,425.40. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.54.

Broadcom Trading Down 2.2 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 194.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 191.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 976.6% in 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 buying an additional 89,975,941 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after buying an additional 82,998,328 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,209,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 30,674,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

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.