QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.3% - Here's What Happened

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) shares traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $160.85 and last traded at $161.48. 1,849,907 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 8,503,317 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $179.00 to $157.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of QUALCOMM from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $186.96.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 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 issued its earnings results 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. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 40.11% and a net margin of 26.11%. The company had revenue of $10.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This is an increase from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm sold 412,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $6,600,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.74, for a total value of $220,384.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,139,507.82. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 426,797 shares of company stock worth $8,672,710. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,721,882,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,313,634,000 after buying an additional 3,905,918 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 1st quarter valued at $529,713,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at $527,053,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 20,700.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,262,754 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $501,192,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247,068 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.