Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 69,707 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,415,090 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,707 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $240,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in QUALCOMM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 137.3% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 197 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in QUALCOMM during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 3,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.15, for a total value of $539,156.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,180.65. This trade represents a 9.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $1,358,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 213,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,229,207.20. This trade represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,127 shares of company stock worth $6,710,055. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital started coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, November 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on QUALCOMM from $190.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of QUALCOMM to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Melius began coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $150.40 on Friday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 52 week low of $134.94 and a 52 week high of $230.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $163.92 and its 200-day moving average is $176.55. The firm has a market cap of $167.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.40.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.90 billion. Equities analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

QUALCOMM 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.