QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $156.58 on Wednesday. QUALCOMM has a 52-week low of $149.43 and a 52-week high of $230.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $173.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $164.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.52.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $509,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 63,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,716,927. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,555 shares of company stock worth $5,094,134. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.