Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $191.58, but opened at $181.04. Broadcom shares last traded at $185.41, with a volume of 7,021,250 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVGO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadcom currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.04.

Broadcom Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $844.09 billion, a PE ratio of 147.49, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $224.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.64.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 191.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 20,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.79, for a total transaction of $4,815,916.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 321,660 shares in the company, valued at $76,809,191.40. This represents a 5.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.96, for a total transaction of $10,798,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 842,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,246,926.56. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 20,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,858,000 after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $244,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 829.8% in the third quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,950 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 7,095 shares in the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors increased its position in Broadcom by 1,076.5% during the 4th quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 4,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,209 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 969.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 386,644 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $66,696,000 after purchasing an additional 350,485 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.