Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 7.3% – Should You Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shot up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $163.48 and last traded at $162.67. 15,342,678 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 16,562,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QCOM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark reduced their price target on Qualcomm from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Oppenheimer set a $200.00 price objective on Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 target price on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.63.

Qualcomm Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.47.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 21.01% and a return on equity of 38.36%. Qualcomm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.77 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio is 42.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.81, for a total transaction of $452,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,191,899.04. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.04, for a total value of $470,528.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,372,106.40. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,529 shares of company stock worth $2,112,945. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,591,056,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Qualcomm during the second quarter worth $1,523,930,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Qualcomm by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,861,301,000 after buying an additional 4,290,622 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,897,079 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,931,968,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221,924 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,645,603 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,163,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771,490 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi?Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.