Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Has $1.05 Million Stock Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,794 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ellenbecker Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in International Business Machines by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.0% during the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on IBM. Bank of America boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.53.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:IBM opened at $252.31 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.92. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $162.62 and a fifty-two week high of $265.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.76.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.21%.

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.