Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Erste Group Bank upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $257.88 and last traded at $256.85, with a volume of 30301799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.71.

AVGO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Broadcom from $260.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $246.00.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.19, for a total transaction of $184,152.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,182 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,834.58. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $95,564,585.40. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its position in Broadcom by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 515,388 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $120,070,000 after acquiring an additional 18,845 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,100.8% in the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,399 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in Broadcom by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 34,380 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,056 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 1,512.3% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 92,629 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $21,660,000 after purchasing an additional 86,884 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 212.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $200.31 and a 200-day moving average of $205.00.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.24). Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is currently 113.46%.

Broadcom declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.