Bill Few Associates Inc. Increases Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Bill Few Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,450 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines comprises 1.2% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $3,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 worth $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in 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 worth $1,467,974,000 after purchasing an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.4% in the 2nd 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 stake in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,717,000 after buying an additional 294,276 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $602,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IBM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank downgraded 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.73.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of IBM stock opened at $223.09 on Thursday. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $162.62 and a fifty-two week high of $239.35. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.90. The stock has a market cap of $206.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 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.