QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price traded up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $205.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. QUALCOMM traded as high as $180.71 and last traded at $180.56. 2,194,854 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 8,650,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.15.

QCOM has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on QUALCOMM from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,232.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total value of $1,275,120.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,232.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,316 shares of company stock valued at $7,796,128. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,466,915 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $248,349,000 after purchasing an additional 251,417 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 244,995 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $41,478,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Addison Capital Co lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 41,527 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $7,031,000 after buying an additional 4,663 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 15.0% in the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,166 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,060,617 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $179,512,000 after purchasing an additional 52,660 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $200.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $168.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.09.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.01%.

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.