Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 145,416 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $22,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 137.3% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 197 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ QCOM opened at $156.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a twelve month low of $149.43 and a twelve month high of $230.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.68 and a 200 day moving average of $165.23.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on QCOM shares. UBS Group raised their price target on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho decreased their price target on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,337 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.82, for a total transaction of $523,308.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,374,385.96. This represents a 5.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value 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. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,045 shares of company stock valued at $7,752,423 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About QUALCOMM

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.