Morgan Stanley Cuts Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Price Target to $246.00

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $265.00 to $246.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AVGO. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Broadcom Price Performance

AVGO traded up $5.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $207.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,202,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,689,379. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $209.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.81. Broadcom has a twelve month low of $117.43 and a twelve month high of $251.88. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Broadcom's quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors 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 yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Broadcom's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 192.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following 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 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, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total value of $10,798,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 842,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,030.8% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Broadcom by 900.0% during the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1,323.1% during the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

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.