Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $236.12 and last traded at $237.90. 4,668,165 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 24,396,623 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Broadcom from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $233.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.83.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 193.76, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.03.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. Broadcom had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.50%.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Check Kian Low sold 48,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.35, for a total value of $11,296,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 113,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,606,317.50. This trade represents a 29.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of Broadcom stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.64, for a total transaction of $918,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,655,296. This represents a 7.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,278 shares of company stock valued at $44,964,800. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN acquired a new position in Broadcom during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new position in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in Broadcom by 1,030.8% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Broadcom by 900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Broadcom in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.