International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Upgraded at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on IBM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Price Performance

International Business Machines stock opened at $246.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $228.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $245.29 and its 200 day moving average is $229.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $266.45.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,387,221.07. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. United Bank lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 53.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 23,700.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 238 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.2% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 115,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,445,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 40.9% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at about $229,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.