Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Down 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price dropped 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $222.96 and last traded at $223.16. Approximately 4,315,165 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 26,996,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVGO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadcom has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.04.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.11. The company has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.32, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.02.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadcom news, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 113,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. This represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. 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 quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

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.