Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 69,707 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,415,090 shares of the wireless technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,707 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of QUALCOMM worth $240,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,615,929 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $8,777,289,000 after acquiring an additional 870,814 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 7.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,128,468 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $4,600,625,000 after buying an additional 1,989,725 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in QUALCOMM by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,036,779 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,999,114,000 after buying an additional 86,195 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in QUALCOMM by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,356,581 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $1,421,037,000 after acquiring an additional 498,284 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,506,863 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $1,250,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,432 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $150.40 on Friday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 12-month low of $134.94 and a 12-month high of $230.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $163.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.55.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The wireless technology company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.25. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.90 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of QUALCOMM to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Melius Research began coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lowered QUALCOMM from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $1,358,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 213,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,229,207.20. This represents a 3.61 % 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, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 3,245 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.15, for a total transaction of $539,156.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,355,180.65. This represents a 9.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,127 shares of company stock worth $6,710,055 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.