Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Down 1.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) dropped 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $215.50 and last traded at $221.90. Approximately 18,013,839 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 16,505,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on QCOM shares. UBS Group cut Qualcomm from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Melius Research set a $220.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Monday, May 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $175.00) on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Qualcomm to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.17.

Qualcomm Stock Down 1.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $233.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $193.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.76.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. Qualcomm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This is a positive change from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Qualcomm declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $569,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,065,677.70. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,806 shares of company stock valued at $3,928,958 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 24.7% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,975,238 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $383,151,000 after buying an additional 589,717 shares during the last quarter. Southern Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Qualcomm by 11.8% in the first quarter. Southern Financial Group LLC now owns 2,596 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its position in Qualcomm by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 29,713 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,826,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its position in Qualcomm by 12.0% in the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 6,518 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 712 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualcomm Company Profile

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.