M Holdings Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 12,137 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,668,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at $246,000. Defined Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at about $310,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 7,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 25,689 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,647,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 359,504 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $79,032,000 after purchasing an additional 78,222 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IBM. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 15th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $232.75.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $239.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $248.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.14. The company has a market capitalization of $221.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $162.62 and a twelve month high of $266.45.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 104.21%.

About International Business Machines

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.