QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.85 Per Share

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given 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 a positive change 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 every year for the last 21 years. QUALCOMM has a dividend 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 Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM traded down $4.41 on Wednesday, hitting $164.17. 4,800,145 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,558,568. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.11 and its 200 day moving average is $142.05. The company has a market capitalization of $183.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.41. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $101.47 and a 1-year high of $177.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.56.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on QCOM shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI began coverage on QUALCOMM in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $177.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded QUALCOMM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total value of $520,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other QUALCOMM news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total transaction of $520,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.50, for a total value of $1,210,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,360 shares of company stock valued at $7,184,678. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 117,461.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,587,893 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,703,193,000 after purchasing an additional 24,566,978 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the 4th quarter valued at $1,467,351,000. Cowa LLC bought a new position in QUALCOMM in the 1st quarter valued at $94,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 21,602,874 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,375,020,000 after buying an additional 3,929,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in QUALCOMM by 409.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,011,105 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $331,039,000 after buying an additional 2,419,686 shares during the last quarter. 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.