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

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s stock price fell 3.2% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares in the company, valued at $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on QCOM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Stock Down 4.8 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average 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. The stock has a market cap 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.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% 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.