International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 1.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s share price traded up 1.2% on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $130.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $184.23 and last traded at $184.02. 627,067 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 4,703,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.90.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on IBM. Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at $235,000. Ziegler Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.8% in the third quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 21,863 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,067,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 5.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 11,815 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.4% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,139,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Holland Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter worth about $311,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.88. The firm has a market cap of $167.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $17.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.29 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.55%. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.67%.

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.