QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Down 1.6% – What’s Next?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares dropped 1.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $158.50 and last traded at $159.51. Approximately 1,283,547 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 7,712,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research started coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 4.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $170.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $164.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.76.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.54, for a total transaction of $484,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,879,598.12. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total transaction of $130,073.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,708 shares of company stock worth $7,713,734. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 89.8% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 560 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 134.9% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,076 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,623,000 after buying an additional 9,806 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, LM Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 12,453 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Company Profile

QUALCOMM Incorporated engages in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT); Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL); and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in wireless voice and data communications, networking, computing, multimedia, and position location products.