Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,610,000 shares, a decrease of 16.2% from the December 31st total of 5,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.
AVGO stock opened at $592.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Broadcom has a 52 week low of $419.14 and a 52 week high of $677.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $603.72 and a 200 day moving average of $539.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.
Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 9th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $7.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.36 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 24.54% and a return on equity of 46.31%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom will post 29.58 earnings per share for the current year.
Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 9th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 22nd were given a dividend of $4.10 per share. This represents a $16.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 21st. This is a boost from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.60. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.33%.
AVGO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on Broadcom from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Broadcom from $625.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 10th. The biggest takeaway from the earnings call was the company’s $10B buyback expected to be completed by FY22, which demonstrates its confidence in its ability to generate superior free cash flows into next year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Srivastava adds that Broadcom’s fundamentals are strengthening as “moribund” enterprise spending is coming back “strong”. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $600.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 10th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on Broadcom from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Broadcom from $589.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $658.65.
In other Broadcom news, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.10, for a total transaction of $1,296,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Raul J. Fernandez purchased 81 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.61 per share, with a total value of $49,621.41. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AVGO. M&G Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Broadcom by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 100,913 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $48,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA acquired a new position in Broadcom during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,946,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $11,860,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter valued at $1,694,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 329.7% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 12,315 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,872,000 after purchasing an additional 9,449 shares during the period. 79.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Broadcom Company Profile
Broadcom, Inc is a global technology company, which designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software. The Semiconductor Solutions segment manages movement of data in data center, telecom, enterprise and embedded networking applications.
