International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Price Target Cut to $179.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $179.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on IBM. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wedbush raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $184.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE IBM opened at $167.20 on Friday. International Business Machines has a 1-year low of $120.55 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The company has a market capitalization of $153.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $187.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. International Business Machines’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 9.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid 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 3.97%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 75.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. James Hambro & Partners boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 5.7% in the first quarter. James Hambro & Partners now owns 78,990 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,078,000 after acquiring an additional 4,286 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 24.1% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,513 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 134,165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 51.1% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% during the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.