International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s share price traded down 1.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $271.33 and last traded at $272.7760. Approximately 5,045,663 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 7,133,325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on IBM shares. Wedbush set a $350.00 price target on International Business Machines in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group upgraded International Business Machines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $290.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $290.00 to $270.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.17.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.67.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.10. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.23% and a net margin of 15.61%.The business had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.4 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in International Business Machines by 424.6% during the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 260,740 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,234,000 after purchasing an additional 211,040 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA raised its position in International Business Machines by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 18,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,930 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position in International Business Machines by 3.3% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 993,743 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $280,439,000 after purchasing an additional 32,072 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,122 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 51.7% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 114,395 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,278,000 after purchasing an additional 38,973 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.