Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Sees Large Volume Increase on Analyst Upgrade

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Craig Hallum upgraded the stock to a buy rating. Approximately 11,825,840 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 14,051,845 shares.The stock last traded at $237.4590 and had previously closed at $219.09.

QCOM has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Qualcomm in a research note on Monday, March 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Qualcomm to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $179.00 price target on Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualcomm news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 192 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $33,024.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.34, for a total value of $325,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,999,352.56. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,977 shares of company stock valued at $2,738,566. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 17,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 171 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualcomm Trading Up 10.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $254.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 27.14 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $138.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.88.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. Qualcomm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.99 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 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This is a boost from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.70%.

Qualcomm announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the wireless technology company to buy up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Qualcomm Company Profile

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.