West Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 766 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at $494,000. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 233.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 8,089 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 5,663 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,504 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 2,997 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.1 %

IBM opened at $220.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.03, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $222.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.16. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $162.62 and a twelve month high of $239.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.81.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.