Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 4.3% – Time to Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares rose 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $226.46 and last traded at $220.81. Approximately 13,861,170 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 16,233,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer cut Qualcomm from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Qualcomm in a report on Monday, March 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Craig Hallum upgraded Qualcomm to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. DZ Bank cut Qualcomm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $179.00 target price on Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.29.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $232.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $184.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Qualcomm declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 17th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the wireless technology company to buy up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Qualcomm

In other news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,562,240. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,806 shares of company stock worth $3,928,958 over the last 90 days. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in Qualcomm during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Qualcomm by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Qualcomm during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Qualcomm by 17,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 171 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Qualcomm during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.