QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stake Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,273 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $11,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth about $1,541,000. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth about $303,000. Amundi raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,313,634,000 after buying an additional 3,905,918 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 156,770 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $24,083,000 after buying an additional 45,769 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 1,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.10, for a total transaction of $235,270.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,661,403.70. This represents a 2.98% 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, major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm sold 412,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $6,600,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 423,464 shares of company stock valued at $8,135,164 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QCOM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded QUALCOMM to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on QUALCOMM from $195.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.96.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ QCOM opened at $151.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.91. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 52 week low of $120.80 and a 52 week high of $211.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.73.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The wireless technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.58 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 40.11% and a net margin of 26.11%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

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.