StockNews.com Upgrades International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on IBM. Wedbush initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $261.67 on Friday. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $265.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $242.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.82, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $241.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.62.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors 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 yield of 2.55%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in International Business Machines by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,189,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,888 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,589,145,000 after buying an additional 427,499 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in International Business Machines by 413.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,634,577,000 after buying an additional 9,650,534 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in International Business Machines by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,384,275,000 after buying an additional 1,704,209 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is 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.