QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.85

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the wireless technology company on Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80.

QUALCOMM has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. QUALCOMM has a payout ratio of 28.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect QUALCOMM to earn $8.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.6%.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of QCOM traded down $4.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $164.17. 4,800,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,558,568. QUALCOMM has a one year low of $101.47 and a one year high of $177.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The firm has a market cap of $183.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.11 and a 200-day moving average of $142.05.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 21.39%. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that QUALCOMM will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on QCOM. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on QUALCOMM from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $177.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.90.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total value of $1,275,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 269,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,018,245.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.50, for a total transaction of $1,210,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,800. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.39, for a total value of $1,275,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 269,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,018,245.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,360 shares of company stock valued at $7,184,678 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 30,833 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,211,930 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $338,027,000 after acquiring an additional 245,335 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,759 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 44,138 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $6,745,000 after acquiring an additional 8,472 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 342,744 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $52,378,000 after acquiring an additional 79,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.