QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $200.00 target price on the wireless technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on QCOM. Bank of America increased their price target on QUALCOMM from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an in-line rating and a $177.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of QUALCOMM from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.36.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM opened at $181.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $168.19 and a 200 day moving average of $147.58. QUALCOMM has a 12-month low of $101.47 and a 12-month high of $183.19. The stock has a market cap of $202.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.33.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This is a positive change from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is 43.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,507,978,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 12,998.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,983,206 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $409,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,323 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,336,496 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,664,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 53.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.