Morgan Stanley Boosts QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Price Target to $172.00

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $158.00 to $172.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the wireless technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.25% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of QUALCOMM from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QUALCOMM has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.36.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

Shares of QCOM stock traded down $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $179.64. 10,043,912 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,171,053. The firm has a market cap of $200.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.33. QUALCOMM has a 52 week low of $101.47 and a 52 week high of $183.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The wireless technology company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.50 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 23.03% and a return on equity of 37.09%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that QUALCOMM will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,456,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 253,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,208,526. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CTO James H. Thompson sold 8,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,456,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 253,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,208,526. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.49, for a total transaction of $520,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,030,317.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,260 shares of company stock valued at $7,429,728. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grandview Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,899 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. VERITY Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. VERITY Wealth Advisors now owns 7,795 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,745 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.35% 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.