International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $215.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on the stock. 1,209,950 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 1,864,268 shares.The stock last traded at $222.83 and had previously closed at $219.94.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 330,694 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.4% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,148,717,000 after acquiring an additional 294,276 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,796,206 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $829,431,000 after acquiring an additional 304,390 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.73.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

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

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.