Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,415,090 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,707 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of QUALCOMM worth $240,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Syntax Research Inc. raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 8.9% in the third quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 4,682 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,486 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in QUALCOMM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $141,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,832,693 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $1,213,023,000 after acquiring an additional 110,828 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $152.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,037,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,992,710. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 12-month low of $134.94 and a 12-month high of $230.63. The company has a market cap of $169.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.40. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $163.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.55.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.90 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 38.81%. On average, analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. QUALCOMM's payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QCOM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. KeyCorp downgraded QUALCOMM from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $202,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,570. This represents a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total value of $1,358,400.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 213,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,229,207.20. The trade was a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,127 shares of company stock valued at $6,710,055 in the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.