QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.2% – Here’s Why

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares shot up 1.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $160.08 and last traded at $159.00. 1,360,722 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 7,846,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on QCOM. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, November 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 2.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $169.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $164.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In related news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.54, for a total value of $484,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,879,598.12. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,708 shares of company stock worth $7,713,734 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 4,387 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 16,171 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 11,778 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 233,713 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $39,743,000 after acquiring an additional 56,578 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,644 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.