Short Interest in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Expands By 15.0%

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 64,010,000 shares, a growth of 15.0% from the September 15th total of 55,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 28,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVGO. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $173.50 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.54.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $182.31 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $163.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.97. Broadcom has a 12-month low of $81.83 and a 12-month high of $186.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $848.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.12%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total value of $3,456,432.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,596,812.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,594,136.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total transaction of $3,456,432.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,596,812.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 295,130 shares of company stock worth $50,646,622. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Michael S. Ryan Inc. lifted its stake in Broadcom by 900.9% in the third quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after buying an additional 8,009 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 859.6% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,564 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 22,900 shares in the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1,526.4% during the third quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 905.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 779,322 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $133,407,000 after purchasing an additional 701,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 866.1% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 415,715 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $71,711,000 after purchasing an additional 372,683 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.