Cascade Investment Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. decreased its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,919 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. International Business Machines comprises 1.0% of Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,833,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546,855 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 151.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $671,352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,165 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 306.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $242,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,759 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 12,282.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 472,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 468,567 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.4% in the second 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $233.00 on Wednesday. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $237.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.23. The company has a market cap of $214.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 40.59%. The firm had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Bernstein Bank boosted their price target on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $198.41.

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.