Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Position in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 59,159 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 849 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $17,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,137,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,159,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,515 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 8,636,725 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,147,608,000 after purchasing an additional 524,633 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,516,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,371,812,000 after purchasing an additional 52,317 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 20.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,157,846 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,282,550,000 after purchasing an additional 889,008 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,108,455 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,270,022,000 after buying an additional 24,790 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on IBM shares. Erste Group Bank lowered International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $244.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM opened at $307.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.19 billion, a PE ratio of 36.75, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. International Business Machines Corporation has a twelve month low of $203.51 and a twelve month high of $319.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $273.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.66.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. International Business Machines has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $1.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 80.38%.

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.