International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $182.53.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,045,000 after acquiring an additional 80,474 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,736 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $177.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13. International Business Machines has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $199.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.66.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.65%.

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.