Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Down 0.4% After Insider Selling

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $171.68 and last traded at $172.27. Approximately 5,957,845 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 31,595,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.94.

Specifically, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total value of $4,240,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 753,280 shares in the company, valued at $126,754,425.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total transaction of $8,168,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVGO. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Broadcom from $162.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, September 6th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Broadcom from $2,400.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.23.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $819.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.55, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 9.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,835,737,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,651,273 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $59,181,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,462 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,141,025 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,488,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,957 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,330,880 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $26,044,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 48.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,992,833 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,966,730,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.