Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,564 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,515,290,000 after buying an additional 365,388 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in International Business Machines by 13.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,280,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,465,214 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,631,000 after purchasing an additional 61,028 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,019,009,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,500,184 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $736,015,000 after purchasing an additional 97,482 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of International Business Machines stock traded down $0.26 on Wednesday, hitting $172.34. 1,043,991 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,568,902. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $130.83 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.40.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 75.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IBM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.53.

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.