Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Stock Price Down 6.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) were down 6.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $250.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Broadcom traded as low as $181.91 and last traded at $182.68. Approximately 13,163,103 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 29,385,776 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.96.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AVGO. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $190.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Broadcom from $201.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.48.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In related news, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.98, for a total value of $9,279,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 696,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,627,425.40. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 46,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 191,278 shares of company stock worth $44,964,800. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 900.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,760 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 858.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 18,369,841 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,168,798,000 after acquiring an additional 16,453,718 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 2,219.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Broadcom by 896.9% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,911 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 884.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 119,529 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,619,000 after purchasing an additional 107,389 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Broadcom Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $856.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Broadcom Inc. will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 191.87%.

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.