Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $228.90 and last traded at $234.22. 5,246,724 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 28,101,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVGO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna increased their price target on Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Broadcom Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 189.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.02. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $225.09 and its 200 day moving average is $186.45.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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 1.01%. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, Director Diane M. Bryant sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total value of $3,400,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,352.80. This represents a 69.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $918,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. The trade was a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 908,585 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 886.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 7,209 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,478 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

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.