Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 86.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,528 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $1,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $240.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised QUALCOMM to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.88.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ QCOM opened at $158.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $174.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $145.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.17. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $120.80 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.58 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.10, for a total value of $486,951.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 49,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,272,711.90. This represents a 6.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.74, for a total value of $220,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,793 shares in the company, valued at $3,139,507.82. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 423,464 shares of company stock valued at $8,135,164. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.