QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 2.5% – Should You Buy?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price rose 2.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $160.48 and last traded at $160.81. Approximately 887,671 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 8,209,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QCOM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius Research assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, QUALCOMM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. As a group, analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,762,376.32. This trade represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. This trade represents a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

About QUALCOMM

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.