QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $206.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. QUALCOMM traded as high as $181.25 and last traded at $180.78, with a volume of 6144347 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.11.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on QCOM. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total value of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 689 shares in the company, valued at $103,232.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total value of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 689 shares in the company, valued at $103,232.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total transaction of $1,275,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,018,245.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,260 shares of company stock worth $5,973,728. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QCOM. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 102.5% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 241 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 327.1% during the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 205 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 9.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $200.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $167.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.50 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 38.06%. Equities analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is an increase from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is 46.38%.

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.