International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 1.8% – Time to Buy?

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price traded up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $218.60 and last traded at $218.43. 963,666 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 4,214,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. DZ Bank cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.12.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.21. 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 company has a market capitalization of $206.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,467,974,000 after purchasing an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,274,074,000 after purchasing an additional 444,698 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% during the third 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, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,796,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $829,431,000 after purchasing an additional 304,390 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.