Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,942 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,545 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $3,275,511.21. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. The trade was a 48.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $139.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $154.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 52-week low of $138.56 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $162.63 and its 200 day moving average is $163.40.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on QCOM. Melius Research started coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lowered 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. Melius 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 on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

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.