QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s stock price shot up 1.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $157.31 and last traded at $156.11. 1,556,629 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 7,793,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on QCOM shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.62. 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 firm has a market cap of $173.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. Sell-side analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total transaction of $130,073.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 2,587 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $409,056.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 19,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,121,130.68. This represents a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,708 shares of company stock valued at $7,713,734. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QCOM. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.