International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on IBM. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Friday, November 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on International Business Machines from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.00.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE IBM opened at $291.35 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $304.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $272.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines has a one year low of $214.50 and a one year high of $324.90.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.10 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 37.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 7.7% in the first quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 7,068 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.1% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,848 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 49,351 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,272,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.