International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 0.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) shot up 0.4% on Friday after Bernstein Bank raised their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $210.00. Bernstein Bank currently has a market perform rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $224.94 and last traded at $223.61. 770,061 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 4,207,636 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.72.

IBM has been the topic of a number of other reports. DZ Bank downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.35.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,017,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 146.6% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 7,437 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 4,421 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 115,321 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,861,000 after purchasing an additional 19,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. Inc. now owns 6,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $207.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.27.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.18 earnings per share. Analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate.