Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $129.29 and last traded at $128.78. Approximately 11,958,798 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 11,458,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $190.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Qualcomm from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lowered Qualcomm from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.77.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $137.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $140.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.12. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 44.09% and a net margin of 11.96%.The company had revenue of $12.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.41 EPS. Qualcomm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualcomm has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is presently 73.55%.

Qualcomm announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Qualcomm

In other news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.65, for a total value of $458,787.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,900,202.35. This trade represents a 8.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total transaction of $438,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,245,841. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,866 shares of company stock valued at $1,474,796 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,144,068 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $19,524,350,000 after acquiring an additional 647,076 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Qualcomm by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 53,667,047 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $8,547,014,000 after purchasing an additional 420,352 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Qualcomm by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,897,079 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,931,968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Qualcomm by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,861,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,591,056,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.