Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 0.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares traded down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $246.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as low as $198.89 and last traded at $200.51. 17,358,098 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 28,606,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.13.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $3,400,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. The trade was a 69.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total value of $4,815,916.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,809,191.40. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 948.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,814,902,000 after buying an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 976.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after acquiring an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,121.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,998,328 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 842.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after purchasing an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,833,894,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674,902 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Up 2.7 %

The company has a market cap of $972.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 169.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $209.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.81.

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.50%.

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.