Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 11.1% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Qualcomm shares fell 11.1% to $164.79 in heavy trading, with volume 59% above the average session. The stock trades below its 50-day moving average but remains near its 200-day average.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook: Qualcomm holds an average “Hold” rating and a $205.83 price target, while recent targets range from $170 to $190, with one firm issuing a “Strong Buy.”
• The latest quarter showed revenue of $9.95 billion, above estimates, but EPS slightly missed expectations and revenue declined 4% year over year. Qualcomm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, representing a 2.2% annualized yield.

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) traded down 11.1% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $161.72 and last traded at $164.79. Approximately 23,945,238 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 59% from the average session volume of 15,066,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on QCOM. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $265.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Qualcomm from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Qualcomm in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $205.83.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $177.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.46. The stock has a market cap of $175.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). Qualcomm had a net margin of 21.01% and a return on equity of 38.36%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Qualcomm's dividend payout ratio is 42.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Ann Chaplin sold 1,827 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $319,268.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,770 shares in the company, valued at $4,503,307.50. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Grech sold 208 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $35,360.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 33,458 shares of company stock worth $6,198,144 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,583,115,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Qualcomm by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 52,763,263 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $9,750,123,000 after purchasing an additional 671,537 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Qualcomm by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $3,178,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179,720 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Qualcomm by 94.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,195,741 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,884,071,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,908 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Qualcomm in the second quarter worth $1,523,930,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a technology company that develops and commercializes wireless communications and semiconductor technologies. Through Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, the company designs integrated circuits, system software and related platforms used in smartphones, personal computers, automobiles, industrial equipment, consumer devices and other connected products. Its Snapdragon platforms support mobile computing, connectivity, artificial intelligence and multimedia applications, while its broader portfolio includes radio-frequency systems, networking and edge-computing technologies.

Qualcomm also operates a significant technology-licensing business through its Qualcomm Technology Licensing segment.

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