International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Position Trimmed by Maple Capital Management Inc.

Maple Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,299 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IBM. State Street Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,148,717,000 after purchasing an additional 294,276 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings 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 worth $602,819,000 after buying an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the third quarter valued at about $573,306,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,473,421 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $546,824,000 after acquiring an additional 32,732 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush began coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on International Business Machines from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $252.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.13. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $162.62 and a 52 week high of $265.72. The stock has a market cap of $234.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its 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%. On average, research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 104.21%.

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.