SFE Investment Counsel Reduces Stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

SFE Investment Counsel trimmed its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 85,338 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 441 shares during the quarter. QUALCOMM comprises 2.8% of SFE Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $13,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $542,688,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014,302 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 17,357.3% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 2,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $4,600,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,725 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 30.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,250,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,432 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 202.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,061,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $350,626,000 after buying an additional 1,380,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $509,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,716,927. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This trade represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,268 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,781. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, November 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of QCOM opened at $170.29 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 12-month low of $148.41 and a 12-month high of $230.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.19 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is presently 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.