Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Up 2% – Still a Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price rose 2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $163.87 and last traded at $163.72. Approximately 10,410,993 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 15,797,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QCOM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $160.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $200.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Summit Insights raised shares of Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.76.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 1.65.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.02). Qualcomm had a return on equity of 38.36% and a net margin of 21.01%.The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is currently 42.59%.

Insider Activity at Qualcomm

In other news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $408,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,376,869.84. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.85, for a total value of $101,781.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 208 shares in the company, valued at $33,872.80. This represents a 75.03% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 11,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,925,859. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 18,251.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 301,278,659 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $55,673,283,000 after purchasing an additional 299,636,973 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,583,115,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualcomm by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,897,079 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,931,968,000 after buying an additional 3,221,924 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 22.7% during 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 buying an additional 3,179,720 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,861,301,000 after buying an additional 4,290,622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

About Qualcomm

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.