Evercore ISI Initiates Coverage on QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an in-line rating and a $177.00 price objective on the wireless technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on QCOM. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on QUALCOMM from $173.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on QUALCOMM from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Susquehanna upped their target price on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $156.90.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

QCOM opened at $157.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $175.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.66. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $101.47 and a 1-year high of $177.59.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 21.39%. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.50 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other news, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total value of $520,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.50, for a total value of $1,291,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,875,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,260 shares of company stock worth $5,973,728 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter worth about $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 102.5% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 241 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.