International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 39.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,627 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,283 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $3,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the second quarter valued at $7,160,000. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the second quarter valued at about $702,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter worth about $618,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 42.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,370 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Hoagland & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,050,000. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.7 %

International Business Machines stock opened at $208.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $192.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.71. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $144.84 and a 1-year high of $237.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders 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 3.21%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 97.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IBM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their target price on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.12.

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.