QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares shot up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $157.06 and last traded at $156.58. 712,267 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 8,204,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on QCOM. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $174.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.56 and a 200-day moving average of $164.19.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $246,784.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,376.32. The trade was a 6.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares in the company, valued at $3,526,010.46. The trade was a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth $2,721,882,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,313,634,000 after buying an additional 3,905,918 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth $527,053,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1,702.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,191,342 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $542,688,000 after buying an additional 3,014,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $4,600,625,000 after buying an additional 1,989,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.