International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 1.2% After Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $130.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $184.23 and last traded at $184.02. Approximately 627,067 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 4,703,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.90.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Arden Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.8% during the first quarter. Arden Trust Co now owns 1,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $188.38 and a 200 day moving average of $169.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 81.67%.

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.