International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $169.51 and last traded at $169.33. Approximately 531,711 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 4,899,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on IBM shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of 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 boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.29.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.88.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly 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. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. International Business Machines’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 32,469 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,200,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares during the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 4.3% during the first quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Neumann Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 1st quarter worth about $246,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 11,305 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 200,872 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,359,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.