Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 424,434 call options on the company. This is an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 260,591 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadcom news, Director Justine Page sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.35, for a total transaction of $200,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,354,383.70. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 117,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.91, for a total transaction of $29,782,175.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,014,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,489,182.32. This trade represents a 10.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 849,134 shares of company stock valued at $163,760,949 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVGO. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in Broadcom by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,091 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Challenger Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% during the first quarter. Challenger Wealth Management now owns 3,504 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 13,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,207,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadcom by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 712 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Trading Up 0.8%

AVGO stock opened at $251.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 94.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.08. Broadcom has a one year low of $128.50 and a one year high of $265.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $219.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.61.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.98 billion. Broadcom had a net margin of 22.64% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.96 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Broadcom Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVGO. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Broadcom from $223.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Broadcom from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Broadcom in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $301.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.09.

Broadcom Company Profile

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.