Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 494,523 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,023 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $75,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in QUALCOMM by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,841,103 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $284,708,000 after buying an additional 523,244 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,596 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,058,000. Burney Co. raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 665.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 146,911 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $22,568,000 after purchasing an additional 127,722 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price 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. Melius Research started coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total transaction of $3,275,511.21. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This represents a 48.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,762,376.32. This trade represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

QCOM stock opened at $158.26 on Thursday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 52-week low of $149.43 and a 52-week high of $230.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $175.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.15.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

QUALCOMM 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.