International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price Down 0.1% After Analyst Downgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) fell 0.1% during trading on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $215.73 and last traded at $218.21. 1,760,540 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 4,213,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.39.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on IBM. Hsbc Global Res raised International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,790 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 15.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,124,000 after buying an additional 4,348 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.0% in the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 13,360 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in International Business Machines by 2.7% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,045 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.7 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $215.58 and a 200-day moving average of $190.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. International Business Machines’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 73.65%.

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.