Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $154.14, but opened at $167.62. Broadcom shares last traded at $167.58, with a volume of 5,705,901 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVGO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.48.

Broadcom Trading Up 5.0 %

The company has a market cap of $760.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.84, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $200.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. This trade represents a 5.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total value of $120,578,041.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,798,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 697,976 shares of company stock worth $127,336,102. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $17,055,760,000 after purchasing an additional 89,975,941 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,893,010,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Broadcom by 1,114.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,113,921 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,849,270,000 after buying an additional 19,375,547 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 18,179.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,276,164 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,892,548,000 after acquiring an additional 17,181,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Broadcom by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 47,524,533 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,018,089,000 after acquiring an additional 15,171,849 shares during the period. 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.