Traders Purchase High Volume of Broadcom Call Options (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 424,434 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 63% compared to the average daily volume of 260,591 call options.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Broadcom stock opened at $251.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Broadcom has a twelve month low of $128.50 and a twelve month high of $265.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $219.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.10, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $10.96 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Broadcom 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.39%.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.88, for a total value of $2,528,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 789,784 shares in the company, valued at $199,720,577.92. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total value of $29,782,175.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,014,152 shares in the company, valued at $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 849,134 shares of company stock valued at $163,760,949 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,178 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 78,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,882,000 after buying an additional 5,322 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Broadcom in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,312,000. 76.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $304.00 price target (up from $267.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Broadcom from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Truist Financial set a $295.00 price target on shares of Broadcom and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Broadcom to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.09.

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.