International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Rating Upgraded by Erste Group Bank

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Erste Group Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE IBM opened at $246.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.16. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $266.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. This trade represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,189,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,888 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,589,145,000 after acquiring an additional 427,499 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 413.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,634,577,000 after acquiring an additional 9,650,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,384,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,209 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.