Capital Investment Counsel Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc decreased its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,739 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,525 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 20.3% in 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 during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 18.1% in 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 during the period. Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $3,070,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at $661,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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. Two research 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, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE IBM traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $167.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 558,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,951,296. International Business Machines Co. has a 12 month low of $120.55 and a 12 month high of $199.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.53. The company has a market cap of $153.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS 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 for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.99 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend 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.