William Blair Begins Coverage on Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)

William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

AVGO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Broadcom from $160.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Melius Research started coverage on Broadcom in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a buy rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Broadcom from $2,000.00 to $200.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Broadcom from $155.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $189.23.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.2 %

AVGO opened at $171.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $796.45 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.81 and its 200-day moving average is $146.91. Broadcom has a one year low of $79.51 and a one year high of $185.16.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Broadcom had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 30.12%. The firm had revenue of $13.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Broadcom’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Broadcom will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares in the company, valued at $217,594,136.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Broadcom news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 7,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,191 shares in the company, valued at $235,746,936.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.37, for a total value of $8,168,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,331,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,594,136.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Lion Street Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 72.7% during the first quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 19 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.3% in the first quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,964 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,929,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. 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.