QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $120.80 and last traded at $122.51, with a volume of 1648431 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $127.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QCOM has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI decreased 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $145.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.74 and a 200 day moving average of $163.05.

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

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.32%.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 24,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,762,376.32. This represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.82, for a total transaction of $523,308.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,778 shares in the company, valued at $9,374,385.96. This represents a 5.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,721,882,000. Amundi increased its position in QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,918 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $527,053,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,989,725 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,289,513 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,041,535,000 after buying an additional 1,493,076 shares during the period. 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.