QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Short Interest Update

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,620,000 shares, a decrease of 12.1% from the January 31st total of 18,900,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 10,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total transaction of $1,665,800.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,383 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,975.97. This represents a 23.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.82, for a total value of $523,308.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,374,385.96. This trade represents a 5.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,045 shares of company stock valued at $7,752,423 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ASB Consultores LLC grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 15.1% in the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM in the third quarter valued at approximately $393,000. HMS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.2% in the third quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,127 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 4.1% in the third quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 7,053 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 2.3% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $156.04 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $164.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.23. QUALCOMM has a 12 month low of $149.43 and a 12 month high of $230.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on QCOM. Barclays dropped their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.32.

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.