Balefire LLC Boosts Holdings in Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Key Points

• Balefire LLC increased its Qualcomm stake by 54.0% in the first quarter, buying 4,091 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 11,661 shares worth about $1.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors owning 74.35% of Qualcomm. Several large funds also recently added to their positions, showing continued institutional interest in the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but generally cautious: Qualcomm has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $221.31, while recent analyst actions included both upgrades and lowered earnings estimates.

Balefire LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 54.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,661 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after buying an additional 4,091 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC's holdings in Qualcomm were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Qualcomm during the 4th quarter worth about $2,591,056,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,861,301,000 after buying an additional 4,290,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Qualcomm by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,897,079 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $4,931,968,000 after buying an additional 3,221,924 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Qualcomm by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,645,603 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,163,030,000 after buying an additional 2,771,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 120.1% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,152,866 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $502,125,000 after buying an additional 1,720,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QCOM. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $140.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Evercore set a $179.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $221.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $569,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,065,677.70. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 21,721 shares of company stock worth $4,044,465 in the last quarter. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Qualcomm News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.92 per share, reinforcing shareholder returns and supporting the stock’s income appeal. Qualcomm Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Micron said it signed long-term supply agreements with Qualcomm and other partners for memory and storage components used in AI-enabled vehicles, which highlights Qualcomm’s push into automotive AI and could improve supply reliability. Micron signs deals with Qualcomm, others for AI-powered automobile chip components
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s automotive AI expansion was further emphasized in reporting on new long-term auto supply deals, which may support longer-term growth expectations for its chip platforms. Qualcomm Secures Long Term Auto Supply Deals To Back AI Vehicles
• Neutral Sentiment: Qualcomm remains a dividend payer and was featured among legacy tech names offering shareholder yields, which is more of a stability signal than a direct catalyst. 4 Tech Stocks Throwing Off Dividends
• Negative Sentiment: GF Securities initiated coverage with a Hold rating, saying there is still not enough visibility on Qualcomm’s AI250 outlook, adding to caution around near-term upside. Qualcomm Slips 2% After GF Securities Starts Coverage With Hold Rating
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp lowered earnings estimates across multiple future periods, including FY2026 and FY2027, signaling some concern about Qualcomm’s profit trajectory. Qualcomm Incorporated stock page

Qualcomm Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM opened at $171.78 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $207.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.39. The stock has a market cap of $181.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 52-week low of $121.99 and a 52-week high of $259.92.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The firm's revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Qualcomm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Qualcomm's dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

Qualcomm Company Profile

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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