Arax Advisory Partners Sells 24,420 Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Key Points

• Arax Advisory Partners cut its Qualcomm stake by 66.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 24,420 shares and leaving it with 12,418 shares worth about $2.12 million.
• Qualcomm has seen mixed Wall Street sentiment, with analysts assigning a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $184.29, though some firms recently issued more bullish or bearish calls.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.92 per share and authorized a $20 billion stock buyback, while its latest earnings beat EPS estimates but revenue fell 3.5% year over year.

Arax Advisory Partners trimmed its holdings in shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,418 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after selling 24,420 shares during the quarter. Arax Advisory Partners' holdings in Qualcomm were worth $2,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 18,015 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $3,081,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Qualcomm during the 4th quarter valued at $171,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Qualcomm by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 107,875 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $18,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Qualcomm during the 4th quarter valued at $560,000. Finally, Altrafin AG bought a new stake in Qualcomm during the 4th quarter valued at $545,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Evercore set a $179.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $220.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $175.00) on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $184.29.

Insider Activity at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total transaction of $167,267.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.34, for a total transaction of $325,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,999,352.56. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,806 shares of company stock valued at $3,928,958 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Qualcomm Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $220.81 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average is $186.31 and its 200 day moving average is $165.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.37. The company has a market capitalization of $232.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 1.59. Qualcomm Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $121.99 and a fifty-two week high of $259.92.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.59 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 42.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from Qualcomm's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Qualcomm's payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Qualcomm announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to repurchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.

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