Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 11,742 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 711,867 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,742 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.08% of International Business Machines worth $156,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in IBM. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,940,000. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $373,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 811,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $178,296,000 after buying an additional 49,591 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $249.72 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $243.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.58. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $162.62 and a 1 year high of $266.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IBM. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.