Verity & Verity LLC Increases Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,042 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,598 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $9,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM traded down $3.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $154.72. 8,444,486 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,732,938. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.17. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 1-year low of $120.80 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The firm has a market cap of $169.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.26.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.58 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. QUALCOMM's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This is a boost from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is 36.25%.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other news, major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm sold 412,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.10, for a total transaction of $486,951.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 49,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,711.90. This trade represents a 6.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 423,464 shares of company stock valued at $8,135,164 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised QUALCOMM to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $189.88.

QUALCOMM Company 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.