Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $255.00 price objective on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $210.00.

AVGO has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Broadcom from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.33.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO stock opened at $224.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 182.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.13. Broadcom has a 12 month low of $104.15 and a 12 month high of $228.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.45.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Broadcom’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Broadcom will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 172.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 25,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.27, for a total transaction of $4,240,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 753,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,754,425.60. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 311,080 shares of company stock worth $53,540,590. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVGO. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Broadcom by 948.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,434,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,814,902,000 after purchasing an additional 166,844,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Broadcom by 976.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,188,826 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,055,760,000 after buying an additional 89,975,941 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1,121.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 90,400,508 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,594,088,000 after buying an additional 82,998,328 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 842.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 35,998,595 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,209,758,000 after acquiring an additional 32,178,542 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 975.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,819,675 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,833,894,000 after acquiring an additional 30,674,902 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.