Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM)

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 105,574 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 73% compared to the average daily volume of 61,147 call options.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of QCOM stock opened at $174.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $186.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.22. QUALCOMM has a 12-month low of $120.80 and a 12-month high of $205.95.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The wireless technology company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.74 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 43.22% and a net margin of 12.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. QUALCOMM has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.300-3.500 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other QUALCOMM news, insider Heather S. Ace sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.87, for a total value of $276,592.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,593 shares in the company, valued at $3,387,041.91. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.56, for a total value of $24,834,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 149,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,718,770.24. This represents a 50.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 164,661 shares of company stock valued at $27,292,820. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. waypoint wealth counsel raised its stake in QUALCOMM by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 2,863 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 1.5% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 4.5% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp raised its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 0.6% in the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 10,085 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 16.7% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 441 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QCOM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on QUALCOMM from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, QUALCOMM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.38.

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.