Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 7,785 Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its Qualcomm stake 13.7% in the third quarter, adding 7,785 shares and bringing its holdings to 64,768 shares, valued at about $11.92 million.
• Qualcomm slightly beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, but revenue fell 8.4% year over year. It also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, a 2.1% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with a $197.13 average price target, while several firms recently cut targets or ratings.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,768 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,785 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Qualcomm were worth $11,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Qualcomm in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Team Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Burk Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 191.7% during the 2nd quarter. Burk Holdings LLC now owns 210 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Qualcomm Price Performance

Shares of Qualcomm stock opened at $176.57 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.70. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 12 month low of $121.99 and a 12 month high of $259.92.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The wireless technology company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.12 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 31.60% and a return on equity of 30.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Qualcomm's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on QCOM. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $235.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $265.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Freedom Broker downgraded shares of Qualcomm from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $197.13.

Key Stories Impacting Qualcomm

Here are a few of the latest stories about QCOM:

• Positive Sentiment: ETFs bought $293.8 million of Qualcomm shares on Nov. 9, with 35 funds buying and 17 selling, pointing to net institutional demand. Article
• Positive Sentiment: A new Linux-based AI desktop operating system developed with Kora Systems is being tuned for Snapdragon PCs. The partnership supports Qualcomm’s effort to expand AI workloads beyond smartphones, though commercial impact is not yet clear. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker downgraded QCOM from Buy to Hold and cut its price target to $185 from $200, citing expectations that investment in new growth businesses will pressure margins for longer than expected. Article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Patricia Grech sold 208 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $35,360.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Heather Ace sold 3,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.42, for a total transaction of $529,344.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,514,074.18. The trade was a 7.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,520 shares of company stock worth $6,101,411. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a technology company that develops wireless communications technologies and semiconductor products. Its chips and related systems are used in smartphones and other connected devices, with products spanning mobile processors, modem-radio frequency systems, and connectivity solutions. The Snapdragon brand includes platforms for mobile devices as well as computing, automotive, and extended-reality applications. Qualcomm also develops technology for automotive systems and the Internet of Things, including connectivity and processing solutions for vehicles, industrial equipment, and consumer devices.

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