QUALCOMM Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:QCOM)

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 70,902 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 20% compared to the typical daily volume of 58,944 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total value of $1,275,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total transaction of $1,275,120.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,232.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,260 shares of company stock valued at $7,429,728 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 102.5% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 241 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 205 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Stock Down 0.3 %

QCOM stock opened at $179.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.33. QUALCOMM has a 52-week low of $101.47 and a 52-week high of $183.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.11.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 23.03% and a return on equity of 38.24%. The business had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.50 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $177.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $158.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.36.

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.