QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was up 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $157.06 and last traded at $156.58. Approximately 712,267 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 8,204,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on QCOM. Evercore ISI reduced 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Melius began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $172.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.10.

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

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total transaction of $3,275,511.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. The trade was a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,730,186 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $17,471,231,000 after buying an additional 707,468 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,615,929 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $8,777,289,000 after buying an additional 870,814 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,798,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,262,826,000 after acquiring an additional 670,432 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth $2,721,882,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after buying an additional 3,905,918 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.