Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $195.54, but opened at $188.05. Broadcom shares last traded at $193.88, with a volume of 5,151,079 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Broadcom from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Broadcom from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.48.

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 firm has a market cap of $906.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.16.

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

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 113.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,655,296. The trade was a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total value of $11,296,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Members Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Tableaux LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,919,000. Silver Oak Wealth Advisors Services LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Finally, PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,896,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.