International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by CWS Financial Advisors LLC

CWS Financial Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,724 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 588 shares during the period. International Business Machines accounts for approximately 0.6% of CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 worth $1,467,974,000 after purchasing an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $1,274,074,000 after buying an additional 444,698 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 6.0% in the third 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 worth $829,431,000 after acquiring an additional 304,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $226.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $154.86 and a fifty-two week high of $237.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $220.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.86. The company has a market capitalization of $209.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.03, a PEG ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.23%.

International Business Machines 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.