KBC Group NV Boosts Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 886,323 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 449,912 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines accounts for 0.6% of KBC Group NV’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. KBC Group NV’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $195,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,833,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546,855 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $600,373,000 after buying an additional 2,702,340 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 151.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $671,352,000 after buying an additional 2,118,165 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in International Business Machines by 306.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $242,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 12,282.2% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 472,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 468,567 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IBM. Bank of America raised their target price on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given 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 price target of $208.12.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $210.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $195.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.71. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.05 and a fifty-two week high of $237.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $218.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.98.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. 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 prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. 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 3.17%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

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.