QUALCOMM’s (QCOM) Buy Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $240.00 price objective on the wireless technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Melius started coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, November 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

QUALCOMM stock opened at $167.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $162.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.66. QUALCOMM has a 52-week low of $146.29 and a 52-week high of $230.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. As a group, analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 9.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 10,373 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,383 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,975.97. This represents a 23.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.54, for a total value of $484,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,879,598.12. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,981 shares of company stock worth $4,000,870 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.2% during the third quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.6% during the third quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 2,551 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 2.1% during the third quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,190 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.