QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Now Covered by Analysts at Benchmark

Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $200.00 price objective on the wireless technology company’s stock.

QCOM has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $173.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $158.86.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of QCOM opened at $165.66 on Tuesday. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $101.47 and a 1-year high of $177.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $184.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.41.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.50 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total transaction of $1,275,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 269,893 shares in the company, valued at $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other QUALCOMM news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total value of $1,275,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 269,893 shares in the company, valued at $43,018,245.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,232.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,260 shares of company stock worth $5,973,728. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the third quarter worth $29,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 327.1% during the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 205 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 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.