QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) traded down 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $150.89 and last traded at $151.00. 2,113,527 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 8,932,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of QUALCOMM from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Melius assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $167.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.73.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $1,358,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 213,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,229,207.20. This represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $202,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,570. This trade represents a 93.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,127 shares of company stock valued at $6,710,055 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 17.1% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 354,389 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $60,264,000 after purchasing an additional 51,879 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 123.2% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,186 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after buying an additional 18,315 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 176,817 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $30,068,000 after acquiring an additional 50,438 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in QUALCOMM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,820,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 664,330 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $112,969,000 after purchasing an additional 29,287 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by 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.