Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 57,936 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,802,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the second quarter worth about $7,160,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at about $5,117,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $611,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 11,327 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IBM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased 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, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.12.

International Business Machines Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of International Business Machines stock opened at $222.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.83. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $153.92 and a 12-month high of $237.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market cap of $205.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 97.23%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.