QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,570 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 1,094 shares during the period. QUALCOMM accounts for approximately 1.2% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $4,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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 assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $152.72 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $149.43 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.82. The stock has a market cap of $168.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (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%. Analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total value of $509,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,115 shares in the company, valued at $10,716,927. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total transaction of $3,275,511.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,526,010.46. The trade was a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.08% 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.