Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Buys New Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,116 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IBM. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the first quarter valued at $26,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in International Business Machines by 1,054.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 127 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.12.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of International Business Machines stock opened at $213.66 on Friday. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $145.28 and a 52 week high of $237.37. The stock has a market cap of $197.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $218.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 97.23%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About International Business Machines

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.