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

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.8% during 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. Approximately 17,358,098 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 28,606,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.13.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Broadcom to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Broadcom from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom

In other news, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $1,569,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,308,000. The trade was a 17.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,655,296. This trade represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its position in Broadcom by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 1,685 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Bryant Woods Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bryant Woods Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Marest Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Marest Capital LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Defined Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 180.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 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. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $212.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.58.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during 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%. The company's revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.59 dividend. 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 1.06%. This is an increase from Broadcom's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is 192.50%.

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.