QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 4.2% – Here’s Why

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was up 4.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $154.36 and last traded at $151.34. Approximately 2,436,087 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 8,889,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on QCOM shares. Susquehanna reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.08.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 4.8%

The firm has a market cap of $167.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.41.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. The firm had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This is a positive change from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,337 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.82, for a total value of $523,308.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,778 shares in the company, valued at $9,374,385.96. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,312 shares of company stock worth $2,457,779 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in QUALCOMM by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,368,470 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $17,568,141,000 after buying an additional 638,284 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 2.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 670,432 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,721,882,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,905,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,289,513 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,041,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,076 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.