Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Has $31.56 Million Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lessened its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,444 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after selling 62,883 shares during the period. QUALCOMM comprises approximately 2.3% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $31,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,730,186 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $17,471,231,000 after purchasing an additional 707,468 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,798,900 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $4,262,826,000 after buying an additional 670,432 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,721,882,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,289,513 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,041,535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM traded down $13.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $135.21. 22,792,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,939,605. The firm has a market cap of $149.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.99. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $120.80 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.06.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. The company had revenue of $10.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is a boost from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. QUALCOMM's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,762,376.32. This represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 648 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.11, for a total transaction of $91,439.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,964,953.95. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,666 shares of company stock worth $5,047,052 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QCOM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $240.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.11.

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.