International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s share price rose 0.8% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $160.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $221.68 and last traded at $219.51. Approximately 562,852 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,943,095 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.75.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. DZ Bank cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 1,054.5% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.16. The company has a market cap of $202.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

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.