Merit Financial Group LLC Lowers Position in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,088 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 5,958 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $1,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of QCOM. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 12,998.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,006,156 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $434,780,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983,206 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1,543.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,831,577 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $409,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,323 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 53.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,283,274 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $586,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,868 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 15.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,249,675 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,027,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,324,303 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $480,794,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,504 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total value of $520,470.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total value of $520,470.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,456,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 253,893 shares in the company, valued at $46,208,526. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,260 shares of company stock worth $7,429,728. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Down 0.3 %

QCOM opened at $179.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.65. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $101.47 and a fifty-two week high of $183.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.69 and its 200 day moving average is $146.59. The stock has a market cap of $200.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.33.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 23.03% and a return on equity of 37.09%. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 43.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on QCOM shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.36.

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.