Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its Qualcomm stake by 1.0% in the first quarter, adding 13,008 shares and bringing its total holding to 1,318,730 shares worth about $169.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions, and 74.35% of Qualcomm’s stock is now owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock: Qualcomm has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $221.31, even as several firms recently raised their targets.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,318,730 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,008 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Qualcomm worth $169,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its position in shares of Qualcomm by 7.1% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 18,015 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,320,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 6.8% in the first quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Qualcomm by 53.0% in the first quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $3,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,427 shares in the last quarter. Uptick Partners LLC raised its holdings in Qualcomm by 5.4% in the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 1,820 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension raised its holdings in Qualcomm by 49.0% in the first quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension now owns 196,911 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $25,358,000 after acquiring an additional 64,758 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $170.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $160.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Qualcomm from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Qualcomm from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Qualcomm from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $221.31.

Qualcomm Stock Down 3.2%

QCOM stock opened at $178.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 1-year low of $121.99 and a 1-year high of $259.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $209.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.41. The firm has a market cap of $187.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Qualcomm declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the wireless technology company to repurchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other news, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,562,240. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,721 shares of company stock worth $4,044,465 in the last quarter. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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