International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 0.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s share price traded up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $160.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $221.68 and last traded at $219.51. 562,852 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,943,095 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.75.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bernstein Bank increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,467,974,000 after buying an additional 330,694 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,274,074,000 after buying an additional 444,698 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,717,000 after buying an additional 294,276 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $602,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.23%.

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.