Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,457,388 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,033 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $540,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,373,000 after buying an additional 2,702,340 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at approximately $573,306,000. State Street Corp grew its position in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in International Business Machines by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,909,000 after acquiring an additional 800,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 23,311.1% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 697,182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,262,000 after purchasing an additional 694,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 3.8 %

International Business Machines stock opened at $253.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $234.21 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $228.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.19. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $265.72.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IBM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.53.

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.