QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading 1.5% Higher – What’s Next?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares were up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $173.08 and last traded at $172.81. Approximately 1,368,171 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,196,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on QCOM. Melius began coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered QUALCOMM from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.57.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $160.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.04. The stock has a market cap of $192.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.40.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.90 billion. Equities analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.54, for a total value of $484,620.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,879,598.12. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,570. The trade was 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 valued at $4,000,870 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,670,451 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,485,575,000 after acquiring an additional 193,236 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 3,476 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,503 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $10,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 28,373 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.