EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,565 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,604 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $15,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in QUALCOMM by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,190 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.77, for a total value of $465,853.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,112 shares in the company, valued at $7,423,464.24. This trade represents a 5.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.74, for a total value of $220,384.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,139,507.82. The trade was a 6.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,599 shares of company stock worth $5,733,290 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on QCOM. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $240.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on QUALCOMM from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $250.00 to $216.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.08.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ QCOM opened at $144.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.91. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $120.80 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.58 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. QUALCOMM’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This is a positive change from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

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.