International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,094,106 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,951 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $241,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.3% during the third quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Goldstein Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.4% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 1,503 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.94.

International Business Machines Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:IBM opened at $223.92 on Friday. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $157.88 and a 12-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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.16. The firm has a market cap of $207.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.73.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.