Brokerages Set International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Target Price at $188.60

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $188.60.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IBM. StockNews.com raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $217.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $199.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $218.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.24.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 40.59%. International Business Machines’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. Analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.7% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 97,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,843,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,468,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,068,000. Finally, Creekside Partners purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the second quarter worth approximately $584,000. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.