Western Financial Corp CA Trims Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Western Financial Corp CA reduced its stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,941 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 973 shares during the quarter. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of QCOM. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the third quarter worth $26,000. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 1,901 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $313,779.06. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $1,981,875.42. This trade represents a 13.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,882 shares of company stock valued at $4,314,649. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $172.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $160.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.67. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $139.26 and a 1 year high of $230.63. The firm has a market cap of $192.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 2.85 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.90 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 26.03%. Analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.16 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid 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 is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on QCOM shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, November 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.57.

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.