Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $217.00 to $228.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential downside of 10.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on IBM. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $225.53.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock opened at $255.48 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $225.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.86. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $162.62 and a 52 week high of $261.80. The company has a market capitalization of $236.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 40.37%. On average, analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $600,373,000 after buying an additional 2,702,340 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at approximately $573,306,000. State Street Corp raised its position in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 90.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,909,000 after purchasing an additional 800,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 23,311.1% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 697,182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,262,000 after purchasing an additional 694,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.