Whelan Financial Takes $251,000 Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Whelan Financial acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,314 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 365,388 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,919,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,019,009,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 97,482 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on IBM shares. StockNews.com raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.53.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM traded down $1.57 during trading on Thursday, hitting $175.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,649,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,576,998. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.76. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $199.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. 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 payout ratio is 75.65%.

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.