ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Sells 7,922 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC reduced its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,161 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,922 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $7,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 3,119 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,151 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Finally, W Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on IBM. Evercore upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.6 %

International Business Machines stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $165.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,400,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,768,629. The company has a market capitalization of $152.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a 12 month low of $120.55 and a 12 month high of $199.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.20%.

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.