QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 3.2% on Insider Selling

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares fell 3.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $168.80 and last traded at $168.14. 2,766,949 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 7,481,555 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.70.

Specifically, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total transaction of $130,073.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on QCOM. Mizuho lowered their target price on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 4.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $182.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.77. 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 (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. On average, equities analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $2,721,882,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,918 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $527,053,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1,702.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,191,342 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $542,688,000 after purchasing an additional 3,014,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 7.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,989,725 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.