International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 0.2%

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s share price traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $172.01 and last traded at $170.94. 529,009 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 4,730,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.53 and its 200 day moving average is $173.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $156.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.74.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 75.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in International Business Machines by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,833,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546,855 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,465,214 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,048,631,000 after purchasing an additional 61,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth about $1,019,009,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.