Essex Financial Services Inc. Buys 791 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,952 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $4,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 1,230 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Societe Generale reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday, January 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.08.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM traded down $1.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.15. 2,049,473 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,984,748. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $120.55 and a twelve month high of $199.18. The company has a market cap of $151.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.91.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. This is a boost from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.20%.

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.