Investors Purchase Large Volume of Broadcom Call Options (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 323,615 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 11% compared to the average volume of 292,693 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AVGO shares. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. UBS Group set a $475.00 target price on shares of Broadcom and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $385.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $420.00 price target on shares of Broadcom in a report on Friday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.33.

Key Stores Impacting Broadcom

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $510 and kept a buy stance, signaling big upside vs. current levels. AVGO: Broadcom price target raised by Truist
• Positive Sentiment: Company beat expectations and issued AI-related revenue commentary (large AI/XPU and networking opportunity), supporting a growth story tied to data-center demand. Broadcom soars past expectations with blockbuster results
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity: traders bought ~323,615 call contracts, well above average, indicating speculative/hedged bullish bets on near-term upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom raised its quarterly dividend ~10% (new quarterly payment $0.65) — a sign of strong cash flow and shareholder returns. Broadcom stock just raised its dividend by 10%
• Neutral Sentiment: High-profile bullish coverage and commentary (Wall Street lists and media pieces) are amplifying interest but also raising expectations. Here’s why Wall Street is bullish on Broadcom stock (AVGO)
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer publicly said he isn’t very worried about Broadcom, which can calm retail sentiment but is not a fundamental driver. Jim Cramer says he is not that worried about Broadcom
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders (including senior execs) have sold shares in recent filings — a potential overhang for sentiment even if sales may be for diversification/liquidity. Charlie Kawwas Sells 1,235 Shares of Broadcom
• Negative Sentiment: Sharp recent sell-off (~20% from pre-earnings levels) has created volatility and forced short-term selling pressure despite analysts raising targets. Broadcom Stock Crashes 20%—But Wall Street Sees It Soaring to $500

Broadcom Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $340.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.19. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $362.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.66. Broadcom has a 12 month low of $138.10 and a 12 month high of $414.61.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.08. Broadcom had a return on equity of 37.45% and a net margin of 36.20%.The company had revenue of $18.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Broadcom’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is 49.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hock E. Tan sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.58, for a total value of $33,958,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 725,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,412,152.04. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charlie B. Kawwas sold 1,928 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.80, for a total transaction of $631,998.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,730,179.60. This trade represents a 7.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 863,577 shares of company stock valued at $311,694,744 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadcom

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AVGO. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,703,487 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $469,566,000 after acquiring an additional 39,466 shares in the last quarter. Capital Counsel LLC NY bought a new stake in Broadcom during the second quarter valued at $221,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 7.0% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 48,361 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $13,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Broadcom by 27.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,130 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $10,737,000 after purchasing an additional 13,978 shares during the period. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 107.6% in the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 16,524 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,555,000 after buying an additional 8,566 shares during the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadcom Company Profile

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.