Clune & Associates LTD. Invests $230,000 in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Clune & Associates LTD. acquired a new position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,048 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth $592,746,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter worth about $573,306,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,189,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,888 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,909,000 after purchasing an additional 800,930 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer started 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. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.9 %

IBM stock opened at $248.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $162.62 and a 52 week high of $266.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.42. 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 posted 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 forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.21%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’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 transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.