Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGOFree Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AVGO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $443.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Broadcom from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Broadcom from $370.00 to $340.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.03.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AVGO

Broadcom Stock Performance

AVGO traded up $3.72 on Wednesday, reaching $336.49. 5,838,770 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,485,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $334.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $342.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 65.72, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.22. Broadcom has a fifty-two week low of $138.10 and a fifty-two week high of $414.61.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGOGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. Broadcom had a return on equity of 39.28% and a net margin of 36.57%.The business had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 5.38 EPS 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 paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 50.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 320,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.53, for a total transaction of $128,296,167.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,326,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,950,399,066.20. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total value of $10,434,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 277,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $96,428,573.34. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 779,101 shares of company stock worth $283,804,325. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVGO. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Broadcom by 1,320.0% in the 4th quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 71 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. SWAN Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 261.9% in the fourth quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 76 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Broadcom

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

About Broadcom

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)

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