QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Down 7.5% - Should You Sell?

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 7.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $142.47 and last traded at $142.60. 3,215,599 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 8,573,773 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QCOM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Melius initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded QUALCOMM from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.32.

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QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The company has a market cap of $140.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.05.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 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, analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total value of $130,073.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,596.63. The trade was a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $509,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,716,927. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $2,721,882,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,313,634,000 after buying an additional 3,905,918 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $527,053,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $4,600,625,000 after buying an additional 1,989,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in QUALCOMM by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,289,513 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,041,535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,076 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.