QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $173.08 and last traded at $172.81. 1,368,171 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 7,196,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on QCOM. Loop Capital started coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, November 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Melius started coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.57.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $192.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.04.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.90 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 26.03%. Research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.16 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $202,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 94 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,570. This represents a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 2,587 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $409,056.44. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 19,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,121,130.68. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,981 shares of company stock valued at $4,000,870. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 2,551 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.1% in the third quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in QUALCOMM by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.