SFE Investment Counsel Acquires 1,661 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

SFE Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,430 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the period. International Business Machines accounts for about 1.5% of SFE Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $6,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in International Business Machines by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,833,642,000 after buying an additional 5,546,855 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $1,019,009,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,500,184 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $736,015,000 after purchasing an additional 97,482 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 151.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $671,352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,788,047 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $341,445,000 after purchasing an additional 81,887 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $200.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.12. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $205.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $189.52 and its 200 day moving average is $182.51.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.27. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.59% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm had revenue of $15.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

International Business Machines Company 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.