Jim Trippon, CPA

Semiconductor maker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), whose shares are down 30% since the start of 2010 and 10% in the past two weeks, is trying to stop the bleeding. The California-based company announced a 12% increase to its quarterly dividend, taking the payout to 19 cents a share from 17 cents and implying a new yield of 2.1%.

Qualcomm also said it would repurchase $3 billion of its own shares, perhaps another moved aimed at recapturing the affections of scorned investors.

We're not ones to malign a dividend increase and Qualcomm said it has returned $12.6 billion to shareholders since 2003.

That's a tidy sum, but it may not be enough to motivate many investors to hurry back into the stock, at least not in the near-term.

Remember, this is the same company that said in January it expects slack revenue and increased competitive pressures in 2010.

Although Qualcomm shares have endured their fair share of pain in recent weeks, the risk may still be too high to only garner a yield of just over 2%.

Investors should also note that there is no time table on the share buyback plan, so this could be a case of the company trying to gain some positive short-term press exposure.

Yes, these are positive announcements from Qualcomm, but they may equate to no more than a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound over the near-term.