Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 2% – Still a Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price traded up 2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $163.87 and last traded at $163.72. Approximately 10,410,993 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 15,797,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on QCOM. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $265.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $160.00 price objective on Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.76.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $171.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.94 and its 200 day moving average is $168.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.02). Qualcomm had a net margin of 21.01% and a return on equity of 38.36%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is 42.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.04, for a total transaction of $470,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,372,106.40. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $408,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,684 shares in the company, valued at $3,376,869.84. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 11,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,925,859 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of QCOM. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Qualcomm by 18,251.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 301,278,659 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $55,673,283,000 after purchasing an additional 299,636,973 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,583,115,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,591,056,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,523,930,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,178,349,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

About Qualcomm

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.