CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Sells 8,992 Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated $QCOM

19 Mar 2026, 09:04 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM – Free Report) by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,188 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock after selling 8,992 shares during the quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.’s holdings in Qualcomm were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Qualcomm by 72.2% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Qualcomm during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualcomm in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Lavaca Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 74.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

Positive Sentiment: Board approves a new $20.0 billion, open‑ended stock repurchase authorization (in addition to ≈$2.1B remaining from Nov‑2024 program); company says timing/size will depend on market conditions — a large buyback (RTT/press coverage estimates ~14.5% of shares) signals management confidence and is usually supportive of the share price. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Company raised its dividend (annualized payout reported at $3.68), increasing shareholder yield alongside the buyback — further evidence management is prioritizing returns. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Bullish investors point out the buyback + dividend and continued beat-and-raise style earnings as signs Qualcomm may be undervalued, especially versus higher‑multiple peers; some investors/analysts are therefore using weakness to add exposure. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: Peer comparison pieces (e.g., Corning vs Qualcomm) highlight that other 5G/optics names may offer stronger near‑term growth or AI tailwinds, suggesting investors are weighing alternate ways to play the 5G/AI cycle. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Seaport Research Partners (and other street analysts) issued downgrades and set a street‑low $100 price target, citing slowing smartphone volumes, longer upgrade cycles, memory/component supply issues, and intensifying competition — these notes are pressuring the stock despite the capital returns news. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrades and media pieces flag that the stock has already suffered meaningful YTD losses and could face more downside if smartphone demand and margin pressure persist — short‑to‑medium term growth concerns are outweighing the buyback headline for some investors. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on QCOM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Qualcomm from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Qualcomm from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.00.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Qualcomm

Qualcomm Price Performance

QCOM opened at $130.47 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.83. Qualcomm Incorporated has a 1 year low of $120.80 and a 1 year high of $205.95. The firm has a market cap of $139.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96 and a beta of 1.25.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 44.09% and a net margin of 11.96%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.41 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Qualcomm Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is presently 73.55%.

Qualcomm declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to reacquire up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.65, for a total value of $458,787.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,202.35. The trade was a 8.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total transaction of $438,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,841. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,404 shares of company stock valued at $1,921,357 over the last quarter. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualcomm Profile

(Free Report)

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.