International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,602,300 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 124,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of International Business Machines worth $572,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $592,746,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at approximately $573,306,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,909,000 after acquiring an additional 800,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 23,311.1% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 697,182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,262,000 after acquiring an additional 694,204 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IBM. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM opened at $249.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $266.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $243.21 and a 200-day moving average of $227.58. The company has a market capitalization of $231.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.21%.

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.