International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Short Interest Update

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,160,000 shares, an increase of 12.4% from the August 31st total of 20,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM traded down $2.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $220.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,830,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,239,930. International Business Machines has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $224.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $200.17 and a 200-day moving average of $185.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.18 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $188.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors 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.