Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Up 3.2% – Should You Buy?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was up 3.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $240.23 and last traded at $239.68. Approximately 22,827,188 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 30,531,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AVGO shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.88.

Broadcom Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 208.24, a PEG 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.10.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 191.87%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.14, for a total transaction of $1,671,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,171,910 shares in the company, valued at $195,873,037.40. The trade was a 0.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,280 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.10, for a total value of $3,591,588.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 399,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,744,366. This represents a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,670 shares of company stock worth $16,629,388. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 846.9% during the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $8,476,000 after buying an additional 43,947 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc. grew its stake in Broadcom by 882.8% in the third quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 6,899 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,190,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. SMART Wealth LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the third quarter worth $662,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 762.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,181,786 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $376,358,000 after buying an additional 1,928,907 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 624.8% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 138,687 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $23,889,000 after buying an additional 119,553 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.