QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.7% – Time to Buy?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) rose 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $157.51 and last traded at $156.20. Approximately 943,700 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 8,909,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on QUALCOMM from $190.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 2.7 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.25.

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

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 7,717 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $1,239,273.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 17,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,600.27. The trade was a 31.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 10,373 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total transaction of $1,665,800.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,975.97. This trade represents a 23.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,882 shares of company stock valued at $4,314,649. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 17.1% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 354,389 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $60,264,000 after acquiring an additional 51,879 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 123.2% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,186 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $5,643,000 after purchasing an additional 18,315 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 39.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 50,438 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the third quarter worth $1,820,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 4.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 664,330 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $112,969,000 after buying an additional 29,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.