International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price Up 1.7% – What’s Next?

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $254.63 and last traded at $252.63. 899,072 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,878,640 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IBM. Wedbush initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer began coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Down 2.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $245.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.16. The company has a market cap of $228.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. This trade represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,189,023,000 after buying an additional 1,539,888 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,589,145,000 after buying an additional 427,499 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 413.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,634,577,000 after purchasing an additional 9,650,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,384,275,000 after buying an additional 1,704,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.