Melius Initiates Coverage on QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Investment analysts at Melius assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the wireless technology company’s stock. Melius’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.85% from the company’s current price.

QCOM has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $190.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded QUALCOMM from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.04.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $159.51 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $130.39 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $165.93 and its 200-day moving average is $179.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.95, for a total value of $497,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,535,970.15. This represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $202,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 94 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,570. This trade represents a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,450 shares of company stock valued at $3,395,926. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,615,929 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $8,777,289,000 after purchasing an additional 870,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,600,625,000 after buying an additional 1,989,725 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in QUALCOMM by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,036,779 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,999,114,000 after buying an additional 86,195 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 6.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,356,581 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,421,037,000 after acquiring an additional 498,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 30.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,250,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,432 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.