Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,007,957 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156,303 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $146,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in QUALCOMM by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,717,388 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $12,296,273,000 after buying an additional 483,390 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,767,489 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,306,438,000 after buying an additional 438,660 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,291,482 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,365,092,000 after purchasing an additional 415,398 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,040,055 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,226,109,000 after purchasing an additional 90,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,249,675 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,027,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,173 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on QCOM. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Citigroup downgraded QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.86.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

QCOM stock traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $165.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,141,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,691,146. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $184.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $165.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.47. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $101.47 and a fifty-two week high of $177.59.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.50 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 38.06%. Equities research analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total value of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,232.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other QUALCOMM news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total value of $1,275,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total value of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares in the company, valued at $103,232.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,260 shares of company stock valued at $5,973,728 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.