Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 8,960 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Empire Life Investments Inc. lessened its stake in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,427 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 8,960 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $2,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 1,702.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,191,342 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $542,688,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014,302 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 17,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,310 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $499,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,600,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,725 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,250,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 202.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,061,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $350,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $202,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,570. This trade represents a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 2,587 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $409,056.44. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 19,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,121,130.68. This represents a 11.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,268 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,781 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 0.0 %

QUALCOMM stock opened at $172.23 on Friday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 1-year low of $148.90 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.55.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. On average, analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.19 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QCOM. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

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.