Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,776 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,180 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $6,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in QCOM. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 1,702.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,191,342 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $542,688,000 after buying an additional 3,014,302 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 17,357.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,310 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $499,320,000 after buying an additional 2,919,490 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 7.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,600,625,000 after buying an additional 1,989,725 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 30.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,250,644,000 after buying an additional 1,741,432 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 202.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,061,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $350,626,000 after buying an additional 1,380,500 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $172.23 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $163.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.49. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 52 week low of $148.90 and a 52 week high of $230.63. The company has a market cap of $190.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. On average, analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.19 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Melius began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, November 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This trade represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total value of $509,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,716,927. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,268 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,781 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.