Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 3,556 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,792 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,556 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $11,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IBM. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,467,974,000 after purchasing an additional 330,694 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,274,074,000 after buying an additional 444,698 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,717,000 after buying an additional 294,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $602,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $222.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $239.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $222.47 and a 200 day moving average of $210.23.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.81.

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.