QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.9% Following Dividend Announcement

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shot up 1.9% on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $165.61 and last traded at $164.56. 8,063,912 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 6,526,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.43.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of QUALCOMM from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $190.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.57.

QUALCOMM Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $158.85 and a 200 day moving average of $168.57. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $182.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.25.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 26.03%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other news, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 2,587 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $409,056.44. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 19,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,121,130.68. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $202,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,570. This represents a 93.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,882 shares of company stock worth $4,314,649 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in QUALCOMM in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in QUALCOMM by 137.3% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 197 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.