International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $238.50 and last traded at $242.65. 2,140,712 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 3,882,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $243.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IBM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $226.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $246.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. Equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,387,221.07. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at $242,000. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at $1,940,000. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at $373,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 811,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $178,296,000 after purchasing an additional 49,591 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 75,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.