QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Down 8.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was down 8.4% during trading on Thursday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $179.00 to $157.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. QUALCOMM traded as low as $134.87 and last traded at $135.94. Approximately 8,583,770 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 8,904,555 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.46.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital lowered their target price on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.58.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In related news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total transaction of $3,275,511.21. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 269 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.10, for a total transaction of $35,265.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,568,140.80. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,266 shares of company stock worth $5,267,436. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. TBH Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.9% in 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. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in QUALCOMM by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,190 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 3.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $154.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.53.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. The business had revenue of $10.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

QUALCOMM Company Profile

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.