Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 11,100 Shares of International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,458 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $39,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of IBM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,011,122,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,019,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,708 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 27,928.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,903,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,326 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the second quarter valued at approximately $133,771,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 45.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,313,241 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $387,118,000 after purchasing an additional 412,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Trading Down 6.4%

NYSE:IBM opened at $272.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $255.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.69. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52 week low of $214.50 and a 52 week high of $324.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $301.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $284.05.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.33 by $0.19. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 15.69%.The business had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David N. Farr purchased 1,000 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $304.00 per share, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,432. The trade was a 12.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IBM. Wall Street Zen cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Dbs Bank raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer set a $380.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $317.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.07.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.