Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 3,685 Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Key Points

• Meridian Investment Counsel cut its Qualcomm stake by 13.6% in the first quarter, selling 3,685 shares and leaving it with 23,359 shares valued at about $3.0 million.
• Insider selling has continued, including sales by EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala and CEO Cristiano R. Amon; insiders sold 21,721 shares worth $3.9 million over the last 90 days.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but improving, with recent rating upgrades and higher price targets; Qualcomm’s current consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $220.45.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,359 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after selling 3,685 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Qualcomm were worth $3,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Certified Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 0.6% during the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 10,085 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Qualcomm by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,401 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 1,847 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 3,253 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.34, for a total value of $325,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,999,352.56. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,562,240. The trade was a 4.82% 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 have sold a total of 21,721 shares of company stock valued at $3,918,290 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on QCOM. Barclays upgraded Qualcomm from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Qualcomm from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a "strong-buy" rating for the company. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Melius Research set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.45.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM opened at $176.25 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.87. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 52 week low of $121.99 and a 52 week high of $259.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $185.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.63.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. Analysts predict that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Qualcomm 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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