International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 1.7% – What’s Next?

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s stock price traded up 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $309.61 and last traded at $307.82. 2,935,644 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 4,852,405 shares. The stock had previously closed at $302.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.08.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.86. The stock has a market cap of $287.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.10 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the last quarter. Strategies Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the first quarter valued at $398,000. Encompass More Asset Management lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 1,121 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 588.8% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 551 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% during the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,739 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,173,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.