International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 0.9% – What’s Next?

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)’s share price shot up 0.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $225.96 and last traded at $224.73. 5,481,686 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 83% from the average session volume of 2,994,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.87.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,940,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,160,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,117,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 75,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.