Bell Asset Management Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Bell Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,651 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,576 shares during the quarter. QUALCOMM makes up about 2.0% of Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $10,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in QUALCOMM by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,730,186 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $17,471,231,000 after buying an additional 707,468 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,798,900 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $4,262,826,000 after acquiring an additional 670,432 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at $2,721,882,000. Amundi increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,579,529 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,313,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905,918 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,670,451 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,485,575,000 after purchasing an additional 193,236 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on QCOM. Mizuho lowered their price objective on QUALCOMM from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research initiated coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $199.00 to $179.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued 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.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM opened at $127.46 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.28. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a one year low of $123.11 and a one year high of $230.63.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. On average, analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $246,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,762,376.32. This trade represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alexander H. Rogers sold 19,287 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.83, for a total value of $3,275,511.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,526,010.46. This represents a 48.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,968 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,077 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.