Benchmark Initiates Coverage on QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Research analysts at Benchmark began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the wireless technology company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.23% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on QCOM. Susquehanna increased their target price on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.86.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $163.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $182.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.41. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $165.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.97. QUALCOMM has a 12-month low of $101.47 and a 12-month high of $177.59.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its 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. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.50 billion. Research analysts expect that QUALCOMM will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total transaction of $520,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total transaction of $1,275,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,245.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total value of $520,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,260 shares of company stock valued at $5,973,728. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 102.5% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 241 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the third quarter worth about $29,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 205 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.35% 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.