International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Price Target Raised to $245.00

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its price objective raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $200.00 to $245.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on IBM. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. DZ Bank cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.71.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $232.75 on Monday. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $136.05 and a 52-week high of $237.37. The stock has a market cap of $213.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $214.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.05.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $15.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 40.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $16,833,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546,855 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,373,000 after buying an additional 2,702,340 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 151.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 306.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $242,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 12,282.2% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 472,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 468,567 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.