Korea Investment CORP Raises Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Korea Investment CORP increased its position in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 586,968 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,797 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $173,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 10.6% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the second quarter worth $211,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 38,617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,383,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 11.6% in the second quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 1,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on IBM shares. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $290.00 target price on International Business Machines in a report on Friday, May 22nd. HSBC raised International Business Machines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $218.00 to $231.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group raised International Business Machines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.17.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.1%

International Business Machines stock opened at $271.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $255.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.80. International Business Machines Corporation has a one year low of $212.34 and a one year high of $332.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $250.02 and a 200 day moving average of $270.34.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.23% and a net margin of 15.61%.International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

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.