QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Up 4.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) rose 4.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $155.84 and last traded at $155.78. Approximately 3,368,803 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 8,715,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QCOM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $179.00 to $157.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $250.00 to $216.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.88.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.26.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.58 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.74, for a total transaction of $220,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,139,507.82. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 1,781 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.10, for a total value of $235,270.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,661,403.70. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 425,064 shares of company stock worth $8,381,948 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Howard Bailey Securities LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,541,000. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Amundi increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 36.6% in the 4th 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, First Foundation Advisors increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 156,770 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $24,083,000 after purchasing an additional 45,769 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.