Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $230.00 to $255.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AVGO. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $276.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.25.

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of AVGO opened at $246.95 on Friday. Broadcom has a fifty-two week low of $128.50 and a fifty-two week high of $265.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $203.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.81. The company has a market cap of $1.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 201.43, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 113.46%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 490,956 shares in the company, valued at $95,564,585.40. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $148,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,695,300. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 720,576 shares of company stock valued at $131,249,694 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVGO. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2.1% during the first quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,091 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% during the first quarter. Challenger Wealth Management now owns 3,504 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,207,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% during the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 3,876 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 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.