International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) shot up 0.2% during trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $260.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $226.63 and last traded at $226.58. 606,906 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 3,368,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.04.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702,340 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $573,306,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $370,909,000 after buying an additional 800,930 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 587.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,262,000 after buying an additional 536,785 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $207.75 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $224.33 and a 200 day moving average of $212.32.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.