Sanford C. Bernstein Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $210.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price indicates a potential downside of 3.44% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.65.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock opened at $222.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $205.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.73. International Business Machines has a twelve month low of $157.88 and a twelve month high of $239.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.26.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $600,373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702,340 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $573,306,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% in 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. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 306.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $242,441,000 after buying an additional 1,056,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 587.1% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,262,000 after acquiring an additional 536,785 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.