International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Stake Boosted by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 107,957 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,090 shares during the period. International Business Machines comprises 2.2% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $23,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,373,000 after buying an additional 2,702,340 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter worth about $573,306,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 306.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $242,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,759 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in International Business Machines by 587.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,262,000 after purchasing an additional 536,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % 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. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $224.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $239.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.31.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.81.

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.