Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 50.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,419 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,570 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $4,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 5.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,415,090 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $240,636,000 after purchasing an additional 69,707 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,841,103 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $284,708,000 after purchasing an additional 523,244 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 17,000 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,612,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 80,353 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $12,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iowa State Bank raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 18,150 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total transaction of $465,853.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,423,464.24. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This trade represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,599 shares of company stock worth $5,733,290. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 3.3 %

QCOM stock traded up $4.64 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $144.54. 7,624,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,879,891. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a twelve month low of $120.80 and a twelve month high of $230.63. The firm's 50 day moving average is $146.99 and its 200 day moving average is $158.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $158.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.29.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.03. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. The business had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. QUALCOMM's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This is an increase from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is 36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on QCOM shares. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on QUALCOMM from $250.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $192.58.

About QUALCOMM

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.