International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $186.00 to $179.00. The stock had previously closed at $184.10, but opened at $168.20. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. International Business Machines shares last traded at $167.30, with a volume of 6,297,897 shares changing hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on IBM. StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.08.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,019,009,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 15,439.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $433,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636,386 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 13.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,887,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 15.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after purchasing an additional 871,247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.0 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $187.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.20%.

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.