International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven 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 $225.53.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of IBM stock opened at $252.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $233.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.36, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.76. International Business Machines has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $265.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.45.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share 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 38.99%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.73 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 104.21%.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $1,940,000. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $373,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at $5,117,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 75,638 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,615,000 after buying an additional 4,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.