International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Down 1.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) traded down 1.9% on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $317.00 to $283.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as low as $250.16 and last traded at $251.3120. 5,141,055 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 6,033,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.11.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.60.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In related news, Director Michael Miebach purchased 434 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $233.33 per share, for a total transaction of $101,265.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,265.22. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David N. Farr acquired 1,000 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $304.00 per share, with a total value of $304,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,484 shares of company stock worth $417,157. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: IBM completed its acquisition of Confluent for about $11bn, adding real‑time data streaming to its stack and announcing day‑one integrations with watsonx.data, IBM MQ, webMethods and IBM Z — a move IBM says will power AI agents and hybrid enterprise workflows. This is a meaningful strategic accelerator for IBM’s AI roadmap. IBM Completes Acquisition of Confluent
• Positive Sentiment: IBM expanded its partnership with NVIDIA to embed NVIDIA GPUs into IBM Cloud and Red Hat AI Factory, aimed at moving enterprise AI projects from pilot to production — a commercial ramp that could drive software, services and cloud demand. IBM and NVIDIA Partner to Help Businesses Deploy AI at Scale
• Positive Sentiment: IBM Consulting teamed with The Hackett Group to help clients prioritize high‑ROI AI use cases and align them to existing workflows — an initiative that could accelerate enterprise AI adoption and consulting services revenue. IBM Business Operations and The Hackett Group Collaborate to Accelerate and Enhance Enterprise AI Business Outcomes
• Positive Sentiment: Recognition of IBM research: IBM Fellow Charles H. Bennett was named a co‑recipient of the A.M. Turing Award, reinforcing IBM’s standing in advanced computing and quantum research — positive for long‑term reputation and innovation credentials. IBM Fellow and Quantum Pioneer Charles H. Bennett Receives A.M. Turing Award
• Neutral Sentiment: Procedural: Confluent has been delisted from Nasdaq following the acquisition — an expected corporate housekeeping step with limited direct impact on IBM’s near‑term financials. IBM Completes Confluent Acquisition, Company Delists from Nasdaq
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan reduced its price target on IBM from $317 to $283 and moved to a “neutral” rating — a notable analyst downgrade that can prompt selling or reduce buying interest in the near term. JPMorgan Lowers IBM Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term technical/market pressure: the stock sits below recent 50‑ and 200‑day averages and volume is lighter than average, conditions that can amplify downside when analyst sentiment turns cautious. (Background trading data.)

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,796,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,824 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,996,293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,290,452,000 after buying an additional 518,321 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,605,083 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,679,105,000 after buying an additional 336,069 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in International Business Machines by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,523,720,000 after acquiring an additional 4,976,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth $2,446,429,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $235.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $284.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a $1.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 60.27%.

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.