QUALCOMM Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:QCOM)

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 112,210 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 110% compared to the typical daily volume of 53,543 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 3,245 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.15, for a total value of $539,156.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,180.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 3,245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.15, for a total transaction of $539,156.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,355,180.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $1,358,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 213,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,229,207.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,146 shares of company stock worth $2,709,186. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Leelyn Smith LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 1st quarter worth $421,000. CFO4Life Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 1st quarter worth $793,000. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 31,279 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 60,297 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $10,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on QCOM. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on QUALCOMM from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.16.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

QCOM stock opened at $172.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $192.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.14. QUALCOMM has a twelve month low of $119.15 and a twelve month high of $230.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.12% and a net margin of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.04%.

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.