Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) had its target price increased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $443.00 to $462.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 28.23% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on AVGO. Benchmark increased their price target on Broadcom from $385.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Broadcom from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Broadcom from $255.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $342.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $418.50.

Broadcom Price Performance

Broadcom stock traded down $46.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $360.30. 45,320,365 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,539,074. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $362.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $316.47. Broadcom has a 1 year low of $138.10 and a 1 year high of $414.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $18.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.46 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 31.59% and a return on equity of 36.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Broadcom will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 16,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.61, for a total transaction of $5,755,726.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 329,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,468,668.22. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.58, for a total transaction of $33,958,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 725,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,412,152.04. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 837,433 shares of company stock valued at $303,900,352. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the second quarter worth $18,579,549,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 37.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 65,509,579 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $10,968,270,000 after acquiring an additional 17,985,046 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 483,442,939 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $133,261,046,000 after acquiring an additional 6,222,802 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,438,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Broadcom by 499.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,634,232 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,858,789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,313 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.