International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $185.00. The stock had previously closed at $184.10, but opened at $168.20. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. International Business Machines shares last traded at $167.30, with a volume of 6,297,897 shares trading hands.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on IBM. 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 report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter worth $235,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $233,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in International Business Machines by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 48,918 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,863,000 after purchasing an additional 10,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 8.3 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $188.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.98. The stock has a market cap of $154.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

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.