Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upped their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.54.

Broadcom Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 189.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.63.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 321,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This trade represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 78,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $18,145,000 after acquiring an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in Broadcom by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 24,130 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Broadcom by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 11,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Broadcom by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 188,698 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $43,748,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 5,837 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 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.