QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $205.32.

Several brokerages recently commented on QCOM. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,708 shares of company stock valued at $7,713,734. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

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

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $161.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62. QUALCOMM has a 52 week low of $149.43 and a 52 week high of $230.63. The firm has a market cap of $178.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $164.52 and its 200-day moving average is $165.81.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its 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 return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.32%.

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.