International Business Machines Corporation $IBM Shares Bought by SouthState Bank Corp

SouthState Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,304 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares during the period. SouthState Bank Corp’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $10,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in International Business Machines by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,019,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913,708 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,536,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,076,406,000 after purchasing an additional 147,721 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,936,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,444,527,000 after purchasing an additional 400,131 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,126,503 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,100,751,000 after purchasing an additional 234,318 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at $2,011,122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David N. Farr purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $304.00 per share, for a total transaction of $304,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,258 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,432. The trade was a 12.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Business Machines Price Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $288.93 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $302.56 and a 200-day moving average of $283.48. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52-week low of $214.50 and a 52-week high of $324.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.33 by $0.19. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 38.15%. The firm had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IBM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus set a $360.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.07.

More International Business Machines News

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results and analyst lifts — IBM’s Q4 beat (software, hybrid cloud and watsonx AI driving revenue) prompted price-target upgrades from firms including Bernstein and Stifel, supporting a constructive fundamental story. Bernstein and Stifel Lift IBM Price Targets After Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate AI push — IBM launched a global RFP for AI-driven education and workforce solutions (Impact Accelerator), reinforcing its strategic AI/go-to-market initiatives that investors view as long-term growth drivers. IBM Opens Global RFP for AI-Driven Solutions
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish media and insider activity — Jim Cramer reiterated a favorable view on IBM as an AI winner with a reasonable P/E, and recent insider purchases were reported, both of which can boost investor confidence. Jim Cramer Says “IBM’s the Rare AI Winner With a Fairly Low Price-to-Earnings Multiple”
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and fund flows — Coverage pieces and ETF commentary note IBM’s recent share-strength and repositioning into tech/AI ETFs, but also raise mixed fair-value signals; these are longer-horizon considerations. Assessing IBM Valuation After Recent Share Price Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Merger paperwork around Confluent — Supplemental disclosures tied to the Confluent deal with an IBM subsidiary have surfaced amid shareholder suits; this creates legal/transactional noise but not an immediate earnings driver. Confluent Issues Supplemental Disclosures Amid Shareholder Lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and technical pressure — IBM shares slipped after Anthropic announced new plugins that could encroach on IBM’s consulting and software revenue, and the stock broke below its 100-day moving average, triggering technical selling. As IBM Stock Breaks Below Its 100-Day Moving Average

International Business Machines Profile

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.