Westpac Banking Corp Has $10.93 Million Stake in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 71,159 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,760 shares during the quarter. QUALCOMM comprises 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $10,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,841,103 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $284,708,000 after buying an additional 523,244 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in QUALCOMM by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,596 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at $2,058,000. Burney Co. raised its position in QUALCOMM by 665.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 146,911 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $22,568,000 after purchasing an additional 127,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC acquired a new position in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM opened at $154.08 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $163.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.57. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 1-year low of $147.88 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The firm has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. Research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total transaction of $3,275,511.21. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,526,010.46. The trade was a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Melius Research assumed coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

QUALCOMM 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.