QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Down 0.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $157.35 and last traded at $159.07. Approximately 678,321 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 8,934,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QCOM has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of QUALCOMM from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $190.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $176.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.25.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.90 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 26.03% and a return on equity of 38.81%. Equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.95, for a total transaction of $497,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,535,970.15. This represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $202,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 94 shares in the company, valued at $14,570. The trade was a 93.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,127 shares of company stock valued at $6,710,055 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in QUALCOMM by 137.3% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 197 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in QUALCOMM during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 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.