Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 3.5% on Insider Selling

Posted by Geri Gentry on Oct 16th, 2026

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM – Get Free Report) was down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $171.90 and last traded at $172.11. Approximately 12,462,765 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 15,269,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.40.

Specifically, EVP Ann Chaplin sold 1,827 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $319,268.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,503,307.50. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QCOM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer set a $200.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Qualcomm from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Evercore set a $159.00 target price on Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $204.10.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Qualcomm

More Qualcomm News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm appears to have prevailed in its licensing dispute with Arm. A Delaware jury found that Arm breached its license agreement with Qualcomm, supporting Qualcomm’s position in a dispute that could have affected the company’s ability to use Arm-based designs. The verdict is a potential legal and strategic win, although further proceedings may still be required. Jury finds Arm breached license agreement with Qualcomm
Positive Sentiment: A renewed Apple licensing agreement improves revenue visibility. Qualcomm’s continued licensing relationship with Apple helps support its high-margin patent-licensing business, even as Apple works to develop more of its own modem technology. Qualcomm renews Apple license
Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm expanded its 5G licensing coverage with Transsion through 2031. The extended agreement provides longer-term royalty visibility in emerging smartphone markets. Qualcomm, Transsion Extend 5G Patent License Deal
Positive Sentiment: The company launched an AI-native Wi-Fi 8 gateway. The product combines next-generation connectivity with edge AI computing, supporting Qualcomm’s strategy to diversify beyond smartphones into home broadband and AI-enabled devices. Qualcomm unveils AI-native Wi-Fi 8 gateway
Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Qualcomm as a cash-generative wireless technology company with growth opportunities in automotive, AI and other markets, but investors remain focused on the pace of its transition away from handset dependence. Qualcomm: Navigating the shift from handsets to AI
Negative Sentiment: Sector-wide chip selling is pressuring QCOM. Qualcomm’s legal win has not prevented broader weakness across semiconductor stocks, with investors reducing exposure to chipmakers. Chip selloff following Qualcomm verdict
Negative Sentiment: Reports that Samsung could replace Qualcomm’s chip in the Galaxy S27 Ultra if thermal issues persist raise concerns about flagship handset share and Qualcomm’s near-term mobile revenue. Samsung may swap Galaxy S27 Ultra chip
Negative Sentiment: MediaTek’s reported progress toward an AI data-center chip pact with ByteDance highlights increasing competition in Qualcomm’s effort to build an AI and data-center business. ByteDance and MediaTek AI chip pact

Qualcomm Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $183.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.38.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 38.36% and a net margin of 21.01%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. Analysts predict that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the second quarter worth about $17,583,115,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 52,763,263 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $9,750,123,000 after acquiring an additional 671,537 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Qualcomm by 22.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,178,872,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179,720 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Qualcomm by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,645,603 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,163,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771,490 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 94.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,195,741 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,071,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,908 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Qualcomm Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a technology company headquartered in San Diego, California, that develops wireless communications technologies, semiconductors and related software. Its products support mobile devices, connected computing, automotive systems, industrial equipment and consumer electronics.

Qualcomm’s semiconductor business operates primarily through its Qualcomm CDMA Technologies segment. Its offerings include Snapdragon platforms and systems-on-chip, cellular modems, radio-frequency components, connectivity products, and processors for smartphones, personal computers, extended-reality devices, vehicles and the Internet of Things.