Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 20,834 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 427,231 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,834 shares during the quarter. QUALCOMM comprises 1.3% of Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $72,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 102.5% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 241 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in QUALCOMM in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 205 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 95.0% during the fourth quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 236 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sylvia Acevedo sold 2,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.21, for a total transaction of $366,399.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,623.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other QUALCOMM news, Director Sylvia Acevedo sold 2,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.21, for a total value of $366,399.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,623.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.61, for a total value of $616,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,407,124.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,185 shares of company stock valued at $8,552,835 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on QCOM. Argus boosted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC boosted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $158.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.96.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

QCOM stock traded down $8.95 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $199.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,572,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,179,811. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 1 year low of $104.33 and a 1 year high of $230.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $202.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.15. The stock has a market cap of $223.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.27.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The wireless technology company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.11. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 37.09% and a net margin of 23.03%. The firm had revenue of $9.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.32 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.70%.

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.