Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $133.95, but opened at $145.61. Qualcomm shares last traded at $146.3980, with a volume of 7,600,791 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Qualcomm from $190.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Qualcomm from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Qualcomm to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.25.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $159.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.16 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 44.09% and a net margin of 11.96%.The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.41 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 8.25 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio is 73.55%.

Qualcomm announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the wireless technology company to buy up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total value of $438,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,245,841. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.34, for a total value of $325,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,999,352.56. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 9,118 shares of company stock valued at $1,233,705 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 17,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 171 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 170 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.