Legato Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,910 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 2,767 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in QUALCOMM by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,615,929 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $8,777,289,000 after acquiring an additional 870,814 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,600,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989,725 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in QUALCOMM by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,356,581 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,421,037,000 after purchasing an additional 498,284 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in QUALCOMM by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,250,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,432 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,832,693 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,213,023,000 after purchasing an additional 110,828 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on QCOM. Citigroup reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Melius began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, QUALCOMM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total value of $509,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 63,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,716,927. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 10,373 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total transaction of $1,665,800.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,383 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,975.97. This trade represents a 23.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,268 shares of company stock worth $7,785,781. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

QUALCOMM Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $170.29 on Thursday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $148.41 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $162.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $188.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

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.