QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Down 0.6%

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $159.72 and last traded at $160.52. 1,746,761 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 8,520,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "in-line" rating and a $177.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.90.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The company's 50 day moving average is $164.87 and its 200 day moving average is $142.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.41.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.50 billion. Research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.8% in the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 157,900 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $17,536,000 after purchasing an additional 42,500 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the third quarter valued at about $629,000. Bank Hapoalim BM lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 35,423 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 9,192 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 120.2% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 20,677 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,991,000 after purchasing an additional 11,285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

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.