Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $206.35, but opened at $218.57. Broadcom shares last traded at $218.29, with a volume of 8,081,751 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Broadcom from $265.00 to $246.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on Broadcom from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.04.

Broadcom Stock Up 2.6 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 180.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.93.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.07 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 28.00% and a net margin of 11.43%. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 192.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its stake in Broadcom by 1,030.8% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 147 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% in the third quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Broadcom by 1,323.1% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Broadcom during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its stake in Broadcom by 1,073.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 223 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.