International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price rose 0.8% on Thursday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $260.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $225.85 and last traded at $225.15. Approximately 600,635 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 3,357,243 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.26.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on IBM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. DZ Bank cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.73.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in International Business Machines by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,467,974,000 after acquiring an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in International Business Machines by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,274,074,000 after buying an additional 444,698 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,717,000 after purchasing an additional 294,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $602,819,000 after buying an additional 12,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.90.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

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.