10,856 Shares in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 10,856 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,386,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Umpqua Bank lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 2,492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 485,334 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $106,691,000 after acquiring an additional 41,683 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 7,262 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 87,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,265,000 after acquiring an additional 27,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IBM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of International Business Machines stock opened at $243.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $246.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.91. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $266.45. The company has a market cap of $226.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.03, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. As a group, analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

Insider Activity

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

International Business Machines 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.