QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,680,000 shares, a growth of 19.8% from the February 28th total of 17,260,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 7,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the completion of 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,376.32. This represents a 6.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,730,186 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $17,471,231,000 after acquiring an additional 707,468 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,615,929 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $8,777,289,000 after buying an additional 870,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,798,900 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $4,262,826,000 after purchasing an additional 670,432 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,721,882,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,313,634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,905,918 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

Shares of QUALCOMM stock traded down $12.46 on Thursday, reaching $141.62. 4,955,228 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,580,632. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $140.15 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $163.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on QCOM. Mizuho decreased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, QUALCOMM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.32.

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.