Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares were down 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $205.35 and last traded at $209.72. Approximately 6,858,680 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 27,174,832 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVGO has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Broadcom Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.86. The stock has a market cap of $934.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.02.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 191.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. The trade was a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total transaction of $11,296,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 113,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. The trade was a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Broadcom by 856.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,014,616 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $175,101,000 after buying an additional 908,585 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its position in Broadcom by 900.0% during the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,760 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Broadcom by 858.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,168,798,000 after purchasing an additional 16,453,718 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 2,219.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the period. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 896.9% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,911 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.