Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Up 1.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) rose 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $238.60 and last traded at $232.35. Approximately 8,868,240 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 23,090,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVGO. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.83.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $200.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,308,000. The trade was a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,606,317.50. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after buying an additional 166,844,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 976.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after acquiring an additional 89,975,941 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $15,594,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,998,328 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position 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 worth $6,209,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.