Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Downgraded by Freedom Broker to “Hold”

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) was downgraded by analysts at Freedom Broker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $185.00 target price on the wireless technology company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $200.00. Freedom Broker‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.14% from the stock’s current price.

QCOM has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer set a $200.00 price target on Qualcomm in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Qualcomm from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Qualcomm from $200.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.13.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM stock traded up $7.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $172.66. 6,464,013 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,163,182. Qualcomm has a twelve month low of $121.99 and a twelve month high of $259.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $178.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.70.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The wireless technology company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.01. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 30.62% and a net margin of 31.60%. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qualcomm will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualcomm news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.85, for a total value of $101,781.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,872.80. This trade represents a 75.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ann C. Chaplin sold 1,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $319,268.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,503,307.50. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 31,820 shares of company stock worth $5,980,217 in the last ninety days. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,583,115,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 52,763,263 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $9,750,123,000 after acquiring an additional 671,537 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,178,872,000 after acquiring an additional 3,179,720 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Qualcomm by 94.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,195,741 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,884,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,908 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,523,930,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a technology company that develops wireless communications technologies and semiconductor products. Its chips and related systems are used in smartphones and other connected devices, with products spanning mobile processors, modem-radio frequency systems, and connectivity solutions. The Snapdragon brand includes platforms for mobile devices as well as computing, automotive, and extended-reality applications.

Qualcomm also develops technology for automotive systems and the Internet of Things, including connectivity and processing solutions for vehicles, industrial equipment, and consumer devices.