Tufton Capital Management Decreases Stock Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Tufton Capital Management cut its holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,998 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 3,215 shares during the period. QUALCOMM accounts for 2.4% of Tufton Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $11,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in QCOM. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,015 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 66,077 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $9,557,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 183,544 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $26,546,000 after purchasing an additional 12,739 shares in the last quarter. Opus Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter worth $376,000. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at QUALCOMM

In other news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were 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 owns 69,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,030,317.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total transaction of $520,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,360 shares of company stock worth $7,184,678. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “in-line” rating and a $177.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.90.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM traded down $0.79 on Thursday, reaching $163.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,792,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,527,376. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 52-week low of $101.47 and a 52-week high of $177.59. The company has a market cap of $182.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 21.39% and a return on equity of 38.06%. The business had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.50 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.38%.

QUALCOMM 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.