QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 4.2% – Here’s Why

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was up 4.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $154.36 and last traded at $151.34. Approximately 2,436,087 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 8,889,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on QCOM shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.08.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.41. The stock has a market cap of $167.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. The company had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In related news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $465,853.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,423,464.24. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,376.32. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,312 shares of company stock worth $2,457,779 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,368,470 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $17,568,141,000 after acquiring an additional 638,284 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,798,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,262,826,000 after purchasing an additional 670,432 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,721,882,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,313,634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,918 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,493,076 shares during the period. 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.