Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM)

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 88,423 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 31% compared to the average volume of 67,643 put options.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $173.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $173.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $194.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. QUALCOMM has a 12-month low of $104.33 and a 12-month high of $230.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The wireless technology company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $9.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 23.32% and a return on equity of 38.12%. As a group, analysts predict that QUALCOMM will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is 45.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on QCOM. TD Cowen upgraded QUALCOMM to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. DZ Bank raised QUALCOMM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.47, for a total value of $1,595,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 237,893 shares in the company, valued at $47,452,516.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.47, for a total transaction of $1,595,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 237,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,452,516.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.61, for a total value of $616,830.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,407,124.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $3,496,590 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QCOM. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in QUALCOMM in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in QUALCOMM during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 71.8% during the second quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 177 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.