Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Upgraded to Outperform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $400.00 price objective on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a report on Monday, January 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective (up previously from $460.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $437.28.

Broadcom Stock Performance

Broadcom stock opened at $331.30 on Friday. Broadcom has a fifty-two week low of $138.10 and a fifty-two week high of $414.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $355.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 69.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.08. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.The business had revenue of $18.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total transaction of $10,434,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 277,237 shares in the company, valued at $96,428,573.34. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 38,281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.65, for a total value of $12,542,769.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 266,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,316,759.10. The trade was a 12.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 779,901 shares of company stock worth $284,069,237. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 29,683 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $6,882,000 after acquiring an additional 5,322 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Broadcom by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,997 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in Broadcom by 76.5% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,339 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,693 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,499,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Broadcom by 145.7% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 15,524 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,279,000 after buying an additional 9,205 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.