Short Interest in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Decreases By 5.6%

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,840,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the December 15th total of 23,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 40.9% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the second quarter worth about $7,160,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the third quarter worth about $5,117,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 75,638 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,615,000 after buying an additional 4,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the third quarter worth about $24,761,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.81.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $224.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.66. International Business Machines has a twelve month low of $162.62 and a twelve month high of $239.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The firm had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

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.