Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Gap Up to $165.78

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $165.78, but opened at $170.84. Broadcom shares last traded at $169.82, with a volume of 3,338,427 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVGO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $161.00 to $173.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.80 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Monday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Broadcom from $155.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.08.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day moving average of $153.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $783.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $12.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.06 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 35.82% and a net margin of 24.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 2,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total transaction of $444,566.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,809,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Justine Page sold 2,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total transaction of $444,566.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,809,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 7,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,705.95, for a total transaction of $12,798,036.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,191 shares in the company, valued at $235,746,936.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,327,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 641 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 742 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 393 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.