Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Down 1.7% After Insider Selling

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s stock price was down 1.7% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $1,296.02 and last traded at $1,308.87. Approximately 752,538 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 3,084,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,331.49.

Specifically, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,344.00, for a total value of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,575 shares in the company, valued at $22,276,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 5,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,344.00, for a total transaction of $6,720,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,276,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 2,500 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,043.14, for a total value of $2,607,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 26,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,039,603.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,810 shares of company stock worth $26,107,692. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVGO. StockNews.com lowered Broadcom from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,720.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $1,700.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $1,400.00 to $1,500.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,230.18.

Broadcom Stock Up 0.5 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,271.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,063.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $614.22 billion, a PE ratio of 49.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.26.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.95 by $2.04. The company had revenue of $11.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.79 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 47.71% and a net margin of 29.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 36.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $5.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $21.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 77.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Broadcom by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,347,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $48,386,994,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089,798 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,330,880 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $26,044,294,000 after buying an additional 1,006,223 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Broadcom by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,941,449 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $14,695,521,000 after purchasing an additional 309,326 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Broadcom by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,878,874 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,287,056,000 after purchasing an additional 651,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at $6,225,987,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.