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

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s stock price rose 1.9% on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $165.61 and last traded at $164.56. Approximately 8,063,912 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily 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 yield of 2.07%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on QCOM shares. Loop Capital assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, November 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.57.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $158.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $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 firm has a market cap of $182.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other QUALCOMM news, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 2,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $409,056.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 19,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,121,130.68. This trade represents a 11.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $202,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 94 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,570. This represents a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,882 shares of company stock worth $4,314,649 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 11.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 177,040 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $35,263,000 after purchasing an additional 18,379 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 182,012 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $36,253,000 after acquiring an additional 10,807 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 86.7% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,739,106 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $545,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,191 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 4,438.9% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 21,923 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,367,000 after purchasing an additional 21,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.