Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Trading Up 1.9% - Should You Buy?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) was up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $238.60 and last traded at $232.35. Approximately 8,868,240 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 23,090,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.83.

Broadcom Stock Up 3.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business's 50 day moving average is $202.01 and its 200-day moving average is $178.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business 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 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Broadcom's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 192.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 12,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.62, for a total transaction of $2,886,323.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 325,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $74,728,221.66. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry L. You sold 6,540 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $1,569,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,308,000. This represents a 17.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Castleview Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,030.8% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Broadcom by 900.0% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 1,323.1% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,073.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 223 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. 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.