QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Down 0.9% Following Insider Selling

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $196.08 and last traded at $197.44. 2,033,474 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 9,312,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.18.

Specifically, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $1,466,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 8,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,466,100. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Neil Smit sold 3,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.94, for a total transaction of $616,684.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,947.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $1,466,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 8,100 shares in the company, valued at $1,466,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,185 shares of company stock worth $8,456,475. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus increased their price target on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on QUALCOMM from $158.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.13.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $223.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.08.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The wireless technology company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $9.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.32 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 23.03% and a return on equity of 37.09%. As a group, analysts forecast that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is a positive change from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,717,388 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $12,296,273,000 after purchasing an additional 483,390 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in QUALCOMM by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,336,496 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,664,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909,025 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in QUALCOMM by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,767,489 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,306,438,000 after purchasing an additional 438,660 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter worth about $2,507,978,000. Finally, Matrix Capital Management Company LP purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter worth approximately $1,171,516,000. 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.