International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading 0.2% Higher

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $183.41 and last traded at $183.38. 740,875 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,773,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IBM. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Societe Generale reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $143.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.67.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $166.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $188.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.91.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $17.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $1.66 dividend. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in International Business Machines by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,045,000 after acquiring an additional 80,474 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in International Business Machines by 18.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,235,000 after acquiring an additional 57,170 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. raised its stake in International Business Machines by 3.2% during the third quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the third quarter worth about $661,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.