QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Short Interest Up 19.8% in March

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,680,000 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the February 28th total of 17,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on QCOM. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research started coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Melius began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $139.42 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.40. QUALCOMM has a one year low of $138.56 and a one year high of $230.63. The firm has a market cap of $154.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced 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 return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. On average, analysts expect that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the business’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 $3,526,010.46. The trade was a 48.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth about $2,721,882,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,918 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,053,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in QUALCOMM by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,600,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989,725 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,289,513 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,041,535,000 after buying an additional 1,493,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.