QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 3.9% - Here's Why

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 3.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $146.02 and last traded at $145.96. Approximately 1,650,877 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 8,855,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on QCOM shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $200.86.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.13. The firm has a market cap of $161.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. Equities analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This is a boost from QUALCOMM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.03%.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total transaction of $130,073.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 648 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.11, for a total value of $91,439.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 56,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,964,953.95. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,666 shares of company stock worth $5,047,052 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 762,296 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $117,096,000 after purchasing an additional 262,425 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 161.1% in the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 164,807 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $25,316,000 after purchasing an additional 101,691 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 14,614 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 34.1% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 672 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

QUALCOMM Company Profile

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.