QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Short Interest Update

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,680,000 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the February 28th total of 17,260,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of QCOM stock traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $154.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,331,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,693,730. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. QUALCOMM has a one year low of $147.88 and a one year high of $230.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.32%.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In related news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $509,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 63,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,716,927. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter valued at $262,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,619 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 11.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62,271 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $9,565,000 after purchasing an additional 6,239 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,704,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.