Welch Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Welch Group LLC boosted its position in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362,799 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,738 shares during the period. QUALCOMM accounts for 2.4% of Welch Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Welch Group LLC's holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $55,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 477 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $250.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "overweight" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $192.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm sold 412,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $6,600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,337 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.82, for a total value of $523,308.34. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,374,385.96. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 425,068 shares of company stock worth $8,418,305. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ QCOM traded down $3.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $145.22. 13,752,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,810,966. The company has a market cap of $159.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.29. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 12-month low of $120.80 and a 12-month high of $230.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $144.30 and a 200 day moving average of $155.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.58 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.89 dividend. This is a boost from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

About QUALCOMM

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.