Short Interest in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) Expands By 24.3%

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,940,000 shares, an increase of 24.3% from the August 15th total of 4,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Broadcom Stock Down 2.3 %

AVGO stock opened at $851.68 on Friday. Broadcom has a fifty-two week low of $415.07 and a fifty-two week high of $923.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $875.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $762.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market capitalization of $351.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $10.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.43 by $0.11. Broadcom had a return on equity of 74.31% and a net margin of 39.25%. The firm had revenue of $8.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 37.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $4.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 20th. This represents a $18.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Broadcom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Broadcom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Broadcom from $840.00 to $960.00 in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Broadcom from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $846.14.

Insider Activity at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $855.68, for a total transaction of $1,283,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,123 shares in the company, valued at $7,806,368.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Broadcom news, Director Check Kian Low acquired 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $872.03 per share, for a total transaction of $9,592,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,909,750.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eddy W. Hartenstein sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $855.68, for a total value of $1,283,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,806,368.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMS Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $514,000. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 745 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $105,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $959,000. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its position in shares of Broadcom by 197.4% in the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 2,269 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.81% of the company’s stock.

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.