International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,620,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the January 15th total of 21,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in International Business Machines by 1,054.5% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IBM has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM stock traded up $1.46 on Monday, hitting $260.65. 3,922,262 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,199,203. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $162.62 and a 52 week high of $265.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.64. The firm has a market cap of $241.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.76.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

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.