Merit Financial Group LLC Has $8.06 Million Stake in Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group cut its Qualcomm stake by 58.8% in the second quarter, selling 62,377 shares and retaining 43,638 shares valued at approximately $8.06 million.
• Qualcomm reported quarterly revenue of $9.95 billion, exceeding estimates, but EPS of $2.21 narrowly missed expectations and revenue declined 4% year over year. The stock opened at $162.18, well below its 52-week high of $259.92.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $203.63, while Qualcomm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, representing a 2.3% yield.

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,638 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after selling 62,377 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Qualcomm were worth $8,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,144,068 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $19,524,350,000 after acquiring an additional 647,076 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Qualcomm by 12.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,221,924 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Qualcomm by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,861,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290,622 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Qualcomm during the fourth quarter worth about $2,591,056,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Qualcomm by 9.9% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 12,671,635 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,136,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $408,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,376,869.84. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.04, for a total transaction of $470,528.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,372,106.40. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,529 shares of company stock worth $1,991,345. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

NASDAQ QCOM opened at $162.18 on Tuesday. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 1-year low of $121.99 and a 1-year high of $259.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $181.61 and a 200-day moving average of $167.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $170.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 1.65.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). Qualcomm had a return on equity of 38.36% and a net margin of 21.01%.The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.77 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Qualcomm's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on QCOM. UBS Group dropped their target price on Qualcomm from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Lake Street Capital lowered Qualcomm to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Qualcomm from $265.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Qualcomm from $198.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Qualcomm from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued 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 $203.63.

About Qualcomm

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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