Lincoln National Corp Boosts Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,831 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $5,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,515,290,000 after acquiring an additional 365,388 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in International Business Machines by 4.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,398,886,000 after acquiring an additional 404,948 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 15.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $890,322,000 after acquiring an additional 871,247 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines by 15,439.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $433,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636,386 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on 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 lowered their target price on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped 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. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.29.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM stock traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $168.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,221,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,970,316. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. International Business Machines Co. has a 12 month low of $120.55 and a 12 month high of $199.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.66.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. International Business Machines’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.20%.

International Business Machines 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.