Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of International Business Machines Call Options (NYSE:IBM)

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 44,777 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 33,200 call options.

Insider Activity

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capstone Capital LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,799 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 11.0% in the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.6% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,140 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in International Business Machines by 12.2% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.12.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of IBM stock opened at $222.97 on Friday. International Business Machines has a 1-year low of $153.92 and a 1-year high of $237.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $219.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.23%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.