QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Here’s Why

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) fell 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $159.09 and last traded at $159.34. 804,749 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 8,190,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned 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, QUALCOMM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 3.3 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $168.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $164.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.88.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $2,721,882,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,053,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 7.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,600,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in QUALCOMM by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,289,513 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,041,535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,076 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.