QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 1.1% After Analyst Downgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) dropped 1.1% during trading on Friday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $199.00 to $179.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. QUALCOMM traded as low as $167.66 and last traded at $167.47. Approximately 2,148,712 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 7,849,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.32.

QCOM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 10,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $1,665,800.07. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,975.97. This represents a 23.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $202,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares in the company, valued at $14,570. This represents a 93.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,981 shares of company stock worth $4,000,870 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 137.3% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 197 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $161.96 and a 200-day moving average of $166.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.25.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 26.03%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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.