The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $315.00 price objective on the semiconductor manufacturer's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Broadcom to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Broadcom from $250.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Broadcom from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $290.21.

Broadcom Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ AVGO traded down $2.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $275.40. 17,848,136 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,277,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 103.15, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.12. Broadcom has a 1-year low of $128.50 and a 1-year high of $281.42.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The business's revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.96 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Broadcom will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.39%.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 473,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.33, for a total transaction of $125,739,356.34. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,188,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,132,574,604.75. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total value of $29,782,175.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,014,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 854,716 shares of company stock valued at $221,433,761 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter worth $25,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadcom in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Sawyer & Company Inc grew its position in Broadcom by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company's stock.

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.