WestEnd Advisors LLC Buys 14,155 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 126,481 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after buying an additional 14,155 shares during the quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $19,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 2.2% during the third quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Blossom Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.6% in the third quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 2,551 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,190 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 1,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $202,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 94 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,570. The trade was a 93.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 7,717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total value of $1,239,273.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 17,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,600.27. This represents a 31.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,981 shares of company stock worth $4,000,870 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of QCOM opened at $167.96 on Friday. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $146.29 and a fifty-two week high of $230.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.62. The company has a market capitalization of $185.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $162.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.86.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 39.51% and a net margin of 25.94%. Research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.19 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday, November 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on QUALCOMM from $207.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, QUALCOMM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.32.

About QUALCOMM

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.