International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Price Target Cut to $179.00

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $179.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on IBM. Evercore raised International Business Machines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Societe Generale reissued a sell rating and set a $143.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of International Business Machines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of IBM stock opened at $167.13 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $187.60 and a 200 day moving average of $170.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.93. International Business Machines has a 1-year low of $120.55 and a 1-year high of $199.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 9.99 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,045,000 after acquiring an additional 80,474 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at approximately $661,000. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.