Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Jumps 2.1% – Should You Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares traded up 2.1% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $181.00 and last traded at $179.60. Approximately 9,583,072 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 15,077,380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on QCOM. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research raised Qualcomm to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Qualcomm from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler started coverage on Qualcomm in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $205.83.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $191.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $176.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 38.36% and a net margin of 21.01%. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.06, for a total transaction of $437,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,641,072.94. This represents a 10.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $35,360.00. 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. Insiders sold 33,458 shares of company stock worth $6,198,144 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,583,115,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the second quarter worth approximately $1,523,930,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,178,349,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Qualcomm by 94.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,195,741 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,071,000 after buying an additional 4,942,908 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Qualcomm by 22.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $3,178,872,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Qualcomm Company Profile

Qualcomm Incorporated is a technology company that develops and commercializes wireless communications and semiconductor technologies. Through Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, the company designs integrated circuits, system software and related platforms used in smartphones, personal computers, automobiles, industrial equipment, consumer devices and other connected products. Its Snapdragon platforms support mobile computing, connectivity, artificial intelligence and multimedia applications, while its broader portfolio includes radio-frequency systems, networking and edge-computing technologies.

Qualcomm also operates a significant technology-licensing business through its Qualcomm Technology Licensing segment.