S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Buys 6,127 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 113.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,520 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,127 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $78,045,000 after buying an additional 80,474 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 48.1% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 19,692 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,397 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,736 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group raised 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.53.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.2 %

IBM stock traded up $2.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.95. 4,193,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,570,876. The stock has a market cap of $158.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $199.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.40.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $1.67 dividend. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.65%.

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.