International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Down 1.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) were down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $185.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as low as $165.73 and last traded at $167.01. Approximately 3,196,762 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 4,933,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.91.

IBM has been the subject of several other research reports. 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,361 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $214,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 2.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 529,406 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,276,000 after buying an additional 11,016 shares during the last quarter. Benin Management CORP boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.8% during the third quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 5,593 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 86.6% during the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 307,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,188,000 after acquiring an additional 142,886 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $152.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $188.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.50% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.66 per share. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 75.20%.

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.