L.K. Benson & Company P.C. Makes New Investment in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

L.K. Benson & Company P.C. purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,900 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $592,746,000. 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 raised its position in International Business Machines by 23,311.1% in the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE IBM opened at $246.80 on Wednesday. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $162.62 and a 52 week high of $266.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $245.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.85 billion, a PE ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 104.21%.

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.