Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Down 0.8% Following Analyst Downgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 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 mid-day 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 research analysts have also recently issued reports on AVGO. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total value of $918,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Broadcom by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,858,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 829.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,095 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 943.3% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 18,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Broadcom by 1,076.5% in the fourth quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.7 %

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

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

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 was Monday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is 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.