QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Given Buy Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $240.00 price objective on the wireless technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. HSBC downgraded shares of QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.16.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QCOM traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $170.91. 10,653,227 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,039,770. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $168.55 and a 200 day moving average of $182.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $119.85 and a 1-year high of $230.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its 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. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 39.70%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.90 billion. Research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In related news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total value of $1,358,400.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 213,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,229,207.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.95, for a total transaction of $497,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,535,970.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $1,358,400.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 213,364 shares in the company, valued at $36,229,207.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,146 shares of company stock valued at $2,709,186 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,036,779 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,999,114,000 after purchasing an additional 86,195 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 30.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,250,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,432 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Capital Management Company LP bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter worth about $1,171,516,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,875,418 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $970,951,000 after acquiring an additional 173,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,312,400 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $563,274,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.