QUALCOMM Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:QCOM)

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 70,902 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 20% compared to the typical volume of 58,944 call options.

QUALCOMM Stock Down 0.3 %

QUALCOMM stock traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $179.64. 10,014,433 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,725,611. The firm has a market cap of $200.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.11. QUALCOMM has a 1 year low of $101.47 and a 1 year high of $183.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.50 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.24% and a net margin of 23.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that QUALCOMM will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total transaction of $520,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,030,317.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 269,893 shares in the company, valued at $43,018,245.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,260 shares of company stock valued at $5,973,728. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in QUALCOMM by 327.1% during the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 205 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the first quarter worth $37,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 95.0% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 236 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.