Lafayette Investments Inc. Trims Holdings in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Lafayette Investments Inc. trimmed its position in QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,500 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in QUALCOMM were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in QUALCOMM by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,110 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 3,763 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 5,793 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp boosted its stake in QUALCOMM by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 11,582 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,770,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 1.0 %

QCOM stock traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,965,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,525,271. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.33. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a 1 year low of $101.47 and a 1 year high of $177.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.41.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.43. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 38.06% and a net margin of 21.39%. The business had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.50 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from QUALCOMM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QCOM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on QUALCOMM from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI began coverage on QUALCOMM in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “in-line” rating and a $177.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on QUALCOMM from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on QUALCOMM from $173.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $55,586.93. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares in the company, valued at $103,232.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Neil Martin sold 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.83, for a total transaction of $55,586.93. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,232.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.50, for a total value of $1,291,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,260 shares of company stock worth $5,973,728. 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.