Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,578 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,515,290,000 after purchasing an additional 365,388 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in International Business Machines by 13.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,919,490 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 4.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,398,886,000 after acquiring an additional 404,948 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,465,214 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,048,631,000 after purchasing an additional 61,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after purchasing an additional 871,247 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on IBM. UBS Group increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Down 0.1 %

International Business Machines stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $168.37. 3,154,776 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,949,592. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $185.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market cap of $154.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $120.55 and a one year high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 75.20%.

International Business Machines Profile

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.