QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $184.86.

QCOM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded QUALCOMM from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on QUALCOMM from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on QUALCOMM from $179.00 to $157.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

QUALCOMM stock traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.88. 7,293,225 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,480,667. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.05. QUALCOMM has a fifty-two week low of $120.80 and a fifty-two week high of $189.61. The stock has a market cap of $175.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.03. The business 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 40.11% and a net margin of 26.11%. QUALCOMM's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm sold 412,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $6,600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.28, for a total value of $537,546.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 46,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,490,810.88. The trade was a 6.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 424,099 shares of company stock worth $8,310,735. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 2,353 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,504 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

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.