Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 1.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 1.1% during trading on Wednesday 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 $203.85 and last traded at $205.12. 10,672,787 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 29,528,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.36.

AVGO has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares in the company, valued at $26,606,317.50. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. NCP Inc. raised its position in Broadcom by 615.4% during the 2nd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 465 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 257.1% in the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 12,167 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $19,535,000 after acquiring an additional 8,760 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 2.0% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,666 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $7,280,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management grew its holdings in Broadcom by 999.2% during the 2nd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 6,650 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $10,677,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co bought a new position in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,700,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Down 1.1 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.05. The firm has a market cap of $961.76 billion, a PE ratio of 167.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. Broadcom’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company 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 year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.50%.

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.