Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading 1.8% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price rose 1.8% on Thursday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $310.00 to $315.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as high as $275.80 and last traded at $274.76. Approximately 4,030,326 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 28,663,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $269.90.

AVGO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Broadcom from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 56,310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.75, for a total transaction of $14,176,042.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 361,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,117,639.75. This represents a 13.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total value of $125,739,356.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,188,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,132,574,604.75. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 854,716 shares of company stock valued at $221,433,761. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,882,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,056 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,199 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $51,283,000 after purchasing an additional 31,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 25,522 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,917,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.95, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $237.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 22.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.