Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) EVP Akash Palkhiwala Sells 2,500 Shares

Key Points

• Qualcomm EVP Akash Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares on April 13 at an average price of $130.34 (totaling $325,850) under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his holding to 30,684 shares (a 7.53% decrease) valued at about $3.999M.
• The company’s board authorized a $20 billion share buyback (allowing repurchase of up to 14.5% of shares); QCOM stock traded at $131.24 that day with a market cap of $140.03 billion.
• Qualcomm beat estimates for the last quarter with $3.50 EPS vs. $3.38 expected and $12.25 billion in revenue, and provided Q2 guidance of $2.450–$2.650 EPS while analysts forecast ~9.39 EPS for the year.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) EVP Akash Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.34, for a total transaction of $325,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,999,352.56. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM traded up $3.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $131.24. The stock had a trading volume of 8,601,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,215,299. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.51. Qualcomm Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $121.99 and a fifty-two week high of $205.95.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.16 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 44.09%. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on QCOM. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $185.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Loop Capital raised shares of Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research cut Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Qualcomm by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,144,068 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $19,524,350,000 after buying an additional 647,076 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,897,079 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $4,931,968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221,924 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,861,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290,622 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the 4th quarter worth $2,591,056,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 12,671,635 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,136,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,541 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.

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