Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Makes New $6.38 Million Investment in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,622 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,383,000. International Business Machines comprises about 2.2% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the second quarter worth $2,011,122,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,019,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,708 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in International Business Machines by 27,928.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,903,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $561,001,000 after buying an additional 1,896,326 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 8,636,725 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,147,608,000 after buying an additional 524,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $133,771,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $300.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $301.03 and its 200 day moving average is $279.66. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1-year low of $214.50 and a 1-year high of $324.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $281.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 37.76%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IBM shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Erste Group Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.38.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.