International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 3.7% on Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price was up 3.7% on Wednesday after UBS Group upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a neutral rating. UBS Group now has a $236.00 price target on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $239.55 and last traded at $237.7540. Approximately 8,421,281 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 40% from the average daily volume of 6,014,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.32.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley set a $304.00 price objective on International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.87.

Insider Activity

In other International Business Machines news, Director David N. Farr acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $304.00 per share, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,432. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting International Business Machines

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded IBM to “Neutral” from “Sell,” saying the recent selloff improved the stock’s risk/reward — the move helped calm sellers and supported the rebound. IBM no longer a Sell, says UBS as analysts upgrade stock
• Positive Sentiment: IBM won a new defense contract (ceiling value $112M) to modernize electronic shelf labels for the Defense Commissary Agency — a concrete government revenue opportunity and a sign of steady backlog from public-sector customers. IBM Awarded Defense Commissary Agency Contract to Modernize Electronic Shelf Label System
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell-off defenders (Wedbush, Evercore ISI and MarketBeat coverage) called the recent drop an overreaction, pointing to strong Q4 results, free cash flow and the resilience of IBM’s mainframe/infrastructure franchise — supporting the view this is a tactical buying opportunity. IBM’s Steep Drop on AI Fears May Be an Overreaction
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target (from $304 to $247) and kept an “equal weight” rating — a signal of more cautious near-term expectations despite the rebound. Morgan Stanley lowers target on IBM
• Negative Sentiment: The principal negative catalyst remains Anthropic’s announcement that its Claude Code tooling could accelerate COBOL modernization — investors fear faster, cheaper automation of legacy systems could pressure parts of IBM’s mainframe and services revenue, which drove the prior 13% one-day plunge. IBM posts steepest daily drop since 2000 after Anthropic says AI can modernize COBOL

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tempo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth $935,000. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,210,000. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Complete Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $251,000. Finally, SG Trading Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,249,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

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 business has a fifty day moving average of $290.87 and a 200 day moving average of $284.17. The firm has a market cap of $222.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.