Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Down 2.7% After Insider Selling

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) dropped 2.7% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $170.00 and last traded at $174.03. Approximately 6,739,806 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 31,221,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.95.

Specifically, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $148,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,695,300. This represents a 3.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $4,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 465,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,872,080. The trade was a 5.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVGO. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Broadcom from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.28.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $803.99 billion, a PE ratio of 139.47, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 475,134,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $110,155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 6,573,204 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 102,207,120 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $23,647,209,000 after buying an additional 3,018,294 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 93,274,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $21,624,718,000 after buying an additional 2,873,809 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $16,893,010,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 49,087,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $11,380,411,000 after acquiring an additional 5,258,925 shares during the last quarter. 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.