Broadcom Inc. Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) experienced a noteworthy decline in short interest during December. As of December 31st, short interest was recorded at 56,950,000 shares, reflecting a decrease of 16.9% compared to the 68,550,000 shares shorted on December 15th. The current average trading volume stands at 28,120,000 shares, which translates to a days-to-cover ratio of 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Broadcom has garnered attention from several analysts who have adjusted their price targets for the stock. On December 13th, Susquehanna raised their price target from $200.00 to $225.00 and assigned a "positive" rating to the stock. Rosenblatt Securities also reiterated a "buy" rating, setting a price target of $240.00 in a report dated December 11th. Citigroup increased their target from $175.00 to $205.00 on December 10th, while Barclays issued a similar increase from $200.00 to $205.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating on December 16th. Additionally, Deutsche Bank raised their target price significantly from $190.00 to $240.00 on December 13th, providing a "buy" rating. Overall, three analysts have rated Broadcom as a hold, while twenty-four have rated it as a buy, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.54.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In recent insider trading activities, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 4,000 shares on January 8th at an average price of $229.64, completing a transaction worth $918,560. After this sale, Hartenstein's stake in the company decreased by 7.94%, leaving him with 46,400 shares valued at around $10,655,296. Another director, Diane M. Bryant, sold 15,000 shares on December 23rd for approximately $3,400,200, reducing her holdings by 69.90% to 6,460 shares. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold a total of 191,278 shares worth $44,964,800, with 2.00% of stock being owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have made recent changes to their positions in Broadcom. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. entered a new stake in the company valued at $128,000, while Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a position worth approximately $136,000. RiverGlades Family Offices LLC took a new position valued at about $210,000, followed by Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. with a stake worth $228,000. Finally, Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA invested roughly $234,000 in Broadcom. Collectively, institutional investors and hedge funds hold 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Stock Performance

On the trading day of Thursday, shares of Broadcom rose by $1.41, reaching $229.41. The total trading volume was 23,427,036 shares, which is lower than the average volume of 24,616,039. The stock's 50-day moving average is $200.02, while the 200-day average stands at $177.11. Over the last year, Broadcom stock has fluctuated between a low of $109.02 and a high of $251.88. Currently, the company holds a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 187.12, and a P/E/G ratio of 2.35. The beta for the stock is 1.03, with a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Broadcom announced its latest quarterly earnings on December 12th, revealing an EPS of $1.42, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. The company reported a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 28.00%. Revenue for the quarter totaled $14.05 billion, slightly below the analyst expectations of $14.07 billion, but showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 51.2%, as it posted $0.98 EPS in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts anticipate that Broadcom will post an EPS of 5.38 for the current year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

Recently, Broadcom declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, which was paid on December 31st. Shareholders who were on record as of December 23rd received this dividend, which translates to an annualized dividend of $2.36, reflecting a yield of 1.03%. This marks an increase from the previous dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was also December 23rd, and the company currently has a dividend payout ratio of 192.50%.

Broadcom Company Profile

Broadcom Inc. specializes in designing, developing, and supplying various semiconductor devices, primarily focused on digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor devices, as well as analog III-V based products on a global scale. Its operations are divided into two main segments: Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software.

Broadcom, Stocks, Investment