Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Up 2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) shot up 2% on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $320.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as high as $283.36 and last traded at $281.03. 5,823,491 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 27,970,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.60.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AVGO. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $315.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.28, for a total value of $12,664,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 415,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,353,335.68. The trade was a 10.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total transaction of $2,528,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 789,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,720,577.92. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 830,516 shares of company stock worth $217,224,641. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom in the first quarter worth $25,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter worth $25,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the first quarter worth $26,000. Sawyer & Company Inc lifted its stake in Broadcom by 62.1% in the second quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 107.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $251.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.63.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.39%.

Broadcom declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.