International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 2.4% – What’s Next?

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) shares rose 2.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $251.37 and last traded at $249.0920. 6,452,899 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 7,710,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $243.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on International Business Machines from $293.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Argus decreased their price target on International Business Machines from $360.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on International Business Machines from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.90.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.93. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 35.65% and a net margin of 15.52%.The company had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 59.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert Thomas sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.32, for a total value of $5,758,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 47,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,009,296. The trade was a 34.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 28,068.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 400,522,341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $112,630,888,000 after buying an additional 399,100,449 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at $21,586,659,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,996,293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,290,452,000 after buying an additional 518,321 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,605,083 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,679,105,000 after acquiring an additional 336,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,523,720,000 after acquiring an additional 4,976,756 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company that provides enterprise-focused hardware, software and services. Its offerings include hybrid cloud solutions, artificial intelligence, data and automation software, cybersecurity tools, IT infrastructure and technology consulting.

IBM develops and supports enterprise systems such as IBM Z mainframes, Power servers and storage products. Its software portfolio includes Red Hat hybrid cloud technologies, the watsonx platform for artificial intelligence and data management, application integration tools and cybersecurity solutions.