Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Price Target Raised to $270.00 at Morgan Stanley

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $260.00 to $270.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the semiconductor manufacturer's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.33% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Broadcom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Broadcom from $267.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $301.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.25.

Broadcom Stock Down 5.0%

AVGO traded down $12.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $246.95. The company had a trading volume of 41,055,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,998,721. The company has a market cap of $1.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 201.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $203.73 and a 200-day moving average of $206.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Broadcom has a 1-year low of $128.50 and a 1-year high of $265.43.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, April 7th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor manufacturer to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Henry Samueli sold 663,976 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total value of $120,578,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,798,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,045,847,733.60. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $5,839,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 720,576 shares of company stock valued at $131,249,694 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.