QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $150.27 and last traded at $152.89. Approximately 1,001,051 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 8,575,489 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research started coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $163.94 and a 200-day moving average of $163.74. 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 stock has a market cap of $167.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28.

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

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,716,927. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock worth $4,685,077 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in QUALCOMM by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,841,103 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $284,708,000 after purchasing an additional 523,244 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,596 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,058,000. Burney Co. increased its stake in QUALCOMM by 665.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 146,911 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $22,568,000 after acquiring an additional 127,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. 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.