International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price Up 0.5% on Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price was up 0.5% during trading on Monday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $215.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $224.35 and last traded at $223.70. Approximately 741,760 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 2,353,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.65.

Several other research firms have also commented on IBM. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.9% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,935 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,064,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in International Business Machines in the second quarter worth approximately $259,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 3.3% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 386,427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,833,000 after acquiring an additional 12,428 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 116,071 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,074,000 after acquiring an additional 11,190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.7 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $207.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

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.