Short Interest in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Declines By 12.1%

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,620,000 shares, a decline of 12.1% from the January 31st total of 18,900,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on QCOM. StockNews.com upgraded QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on QUALCOMM from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.80, for a total transaction of $509,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,716,927. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,045 shares of company stock valued at $7,752,423 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QCOM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QCOM opened at $161.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.14. QUALCOMM has a fifty-two week low of $149.43 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.62.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. Equities research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

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.