International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading 1.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) shares rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $215.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $223.58 and last traded at $223.19. Approximately 1,513,678 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 2,005,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $219.94.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on IBM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, DZ Bank cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.9% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 11,935 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the second quarter valued at approximately $364,000. Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 7.5% in the second quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 5,252 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.2% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,339,000 after buying an additional 24,818 shares during the period. Finally, Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter valued at $217,000. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $220.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.89.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

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.