Capital Investment Counsel Inc Sells 50 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,797 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,425 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,292,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in International Business Machines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 4.0% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $264.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $265.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $234.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.26.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

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.