Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) rose 2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $163.87 and last traded at $163.72. 10,410,993 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 15,797,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $200.00 target price on Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $198.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Melius Research set a $220.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.76.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $173.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $173.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 1.65.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). Qualcomm had a net margin of 21.01% and a return on equity of 38.36%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.77 earnings per share. Qualcomm’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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 299,636,973 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the second quarter worth about $17,583,115,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,221,924 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 22.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,178,872,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179,720 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,861,301,000 after acquiring an additional 4,290,622 shares during the period. 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.