QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $175.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. QUALCOMM traded as high as $181.25 and last traded at $180.78, with a volume of 6144347 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $164.11.

QCOM has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI started coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $177.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $158.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.55.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total value of $55,586.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares in the company, valued at $103,232.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total value of $520,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total value of $55,586.93. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,232.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,260 shares of company stock worth $5,973,728. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peoples Bank OH acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. HF Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $629,000. Bank Hapoalim BM grew its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 35,423 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 9,192 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in QUALCOMM by 120.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 20,677 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after purchasing an additional 11,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 45,570 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $6,591,000 after buying an additional 2,818 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QUALCOMM Trading Up 9.3 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.87. 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 has a market capitalization of $200.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.33.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.50 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 21.39%. On average, research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.38%.

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.