Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,729 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,841,103 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $284,708,000 after purchasing an additional 523,244 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,596 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after buying an additional 4,955 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,058,000. Burney Co. boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 665.6% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 146,911 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $22,568,000 after buying an additional 127,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC bought a new position in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM opened at $156.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.98. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $149.43 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The company has a market capitalization of $173.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced 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%. Analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on QCOM shares. Melius Research began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,393 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the 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 owns 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This represents a 48.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM 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.