Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 135,837 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in QUALCOMM by 59.8%, acquiring an additional 135,837 shares, totaling 362,863 shares valued at approximately $55.7 million.
• Several brokerages have adjusted their price targets for QUALCOMM, with Wells Fargo lowering it to $140 and UBS raising it to $165, while the consensus rating remains a "Hold" with an average target price of $181.10.
• QUALCOMM has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.89 per share, with a payout ratio of 34.33%, indicating a yield of 2.3% for shareholders.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 59.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 362,863 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 135,837 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $55,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QCOM. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 70.0% in the first quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $185.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $250.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of QUALCOMM to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, QUALCOMM presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $181.10.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.40, for a total transaction of $234,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,102,655.20. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.10, for a total value of $493,617.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,398,956.70. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 424,099 shares of company stock worth $8,352,355. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM traded up $1.50 on Thursday, hitting $158.09. The stock had a trading volume of 6,287,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,781,626. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a twelve month low of $120.80 and a twelve month high of $182.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 3.19. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $155.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.82. The company has a market capitalization of $170.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.23.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.06. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.77% and a return on equity of 40.35%. The company had revenue of $10.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. QUALCOMM's payout ratio is currently 34.33%.

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.