Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 7,880 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in QUALCOMM Inc. by 13.1% after selling 7,880 shares, leaving them with 52,223 shares worth approximately $8.02 million.
quarterly earnings beat estimates, reporting $2.77 per share, higher than the anticipated $2.71, with revenue of $10.37 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.89 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 2.4%, indicating solid returns for shareholders.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,223 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after selling 7,880 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $8,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 70.0% during the 1st quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ QCOM opened at $145.84 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $157.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.23. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a one year low of $120.80 and a one year high of $182.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $155.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.58.

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

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.33%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In related news, major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm sold 412,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $6,600,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.10, for a total value of $493,617.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 43,207 shares in the company, valued at $6,398,956.70. The trade was a 7.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 424,099 shares of company stock worth $8,352,355. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded QUALCOMM from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded QUALCOMM to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on QUALCOMM from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $181.10.

QUALCOMM Profile

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.

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