Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 64,010,000 shares, an increase of 15.0% from the September 15th total of 55,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 28,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $182.31. 17,176,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,851,479. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $848.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $162.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.64. Broadcom has a 52-week low of $81.83 and a 52-week high of $186.42.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.98 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 30.12% and a net margin of 10.88%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Broadcom will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Broadcom's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Broadcom's payout ratio is presently 9.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total transaction of $3,456,432.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,596,812.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.88, for a total transaction of $3,456,432.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 380,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,596,812.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at $217,594,136.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 295,130 shares of company stock valued at $50,646,622 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 1.9% in the second quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Broadcom by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 0.7% during the first quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 19 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,964 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,929,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AVGO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Broadcom from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Broadcom from $173.50 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $191.54.

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.

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