Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) by 74.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,185 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 44,980 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Qualcomm were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambient Family Office LLC raised its position in Qualcomm by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Qualcomm by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,019 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 21.5% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 18.5% in the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 9,860 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 59.2% in the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,404 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753 shares in the last quarter. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

QCOM stock opened at $189.39 on Monday. Qualcomm Incorporated has a one year low of $121.99 and a one year high of $259.92. The firm has a market cap of $199.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.79.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 42.11%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. Qualcomm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This is a boost from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Qualcomm announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the wireless technology company to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Qualcomm News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm raised its fiscal 2029 non-handset revenue target to $40 billion from $22 billion and said its data center business could exceed $15 billion by 2029, reinforcing the company’s push beyond smartphone chips.
• Positive Sentiment: The company said Meta and Microsoft are early customers for its data center CPUs, giving investors outside validation for Qualcomm’s AI infrastructure strategy and helping the market see a clearer growth path.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more bullish after the update, with multiple firms raising price targets and DZ Bank upgrading Qualcomm from hold to buy, suggesting Wall Street is warming to the diversification story.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm also announced a $3.9 billion acquisition of Modular, which should strengthen its AI software stack and improve its ability to compete in cloud and edge AI workloads.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces from outlets like Seeking Alpha and 247WallSt argue the market may still be misunderstanding Qualcomm’s AI pivot, but these are opinion-driven and less directly market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upbeat guidance, investors may still worry that much of the promised AI chip revenue is years away and that execution risk remains high, especially as Qualcomm transitions away from its handset-heavy mix.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on QCOM. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Qualcomm from $140.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus set a $220.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $160.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Qualcomm to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.35, for a total value of $493,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,068,737.40. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $569,024.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,065,677.70. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,806 shares of company stock worth $3,928,958. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualcomm Company Profile

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.