International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bernstein Bank upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.12.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM opened at $210.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $195.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.71. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.68. International Business Machines has a fifty-two week low of $147.35 and a fifty-two week high of $237.37.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that International Business Machines will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 97.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 1,054.5% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 37.0% in the second quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 222 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.