Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Up 7.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) rose 7.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $169.78 and last traded at $165.93. Approximately 19,820,832 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 31,631,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVGO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.48.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $200.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.34. The firm has a market cap of $742.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of Broadcom 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,564,585.40. The trade was a 5.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total value of $120,578,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 697,976 shares of company stock valued at $127,336,102 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $17,055,760,000 after buying an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth about $16,893,010,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,114.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,113,921 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,849,270,000 after acquiring an additional 19,375,547 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 18,179.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 47,524,533 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $11,018,089,000 after purchasing an additional 15,171,849 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.