Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Free Report) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $230.00 to $255.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer's stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AVGO. Truist Financial set a $295.00 price objective on Broadcom and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on Broadcom from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Broadcom from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Broadcom from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Broadcom from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $270.25.

Broadcom Stock Down 5.0%

Shares of AVGO traded down $12.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $246.95. 41,055,118 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,998,721. Broadcom has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $265.43. The firm's fifty day moving average is $203.73 and its 200-day moving average is $206.22. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.96 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadcom announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, April 7th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. Broadcom's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $4,500,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 465,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,872,080. The trade was a 5.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.19, for a total value of $184,152.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,834.58. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 720,576 shares of company stock worth $131,249,694 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Long Island Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 8,264.5% in the 1st quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 76,117 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $12,744,000 after buying an additional 75,207 shares during the last quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 128,800 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $21,565,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 38,372 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,145 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.