QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $206.57.

QCOM has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered QUALCOMM from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Melius began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ QCOM opened at $172.11 on Friday. QUALCOMM has a 52 week low of $139.26 and a 52 week high of $230.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $159.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.25.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.90 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 10,373 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $1,665,800.07. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,975.97. This trade represents a 23.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $202,120.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 94 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,570. This represents a 93.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,882 shares of company stock valued at $4,314,649 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1,702.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,191,342 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $542,688,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014,302 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in QUALCOMM by 17,357.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,310 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $499,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 7.9% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,989,725 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 30.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,250,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 202.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,061,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $350,626,000 after buying an additional 1,380,500 shares during the period. 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.