QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s stock price rose 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $176.48 and last traded at $176.01. Approximately 1,768,067 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 7,517,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on QCOM shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho cut their target price on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.54. The company has a market cap of $193.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.32%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.54, for a total value of $484,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,879,598.12. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the 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 $14,570. This trade represents a 93.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,268 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,781. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in QUALCOMM by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,730,186 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $17,471,231,000 after purchasing an additional 707,468 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,615,929 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $8,777,289,000 after buying an additional 870,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,798,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,262,826,000 after buying an additional 670,432 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth $2,721,882,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Company Profile

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.