Merit Financial Group LLC Has $15.51 Million Stake in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,170 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $15,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,693 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,874 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Friday Financial raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Friday Financial now owns 1,903 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,459 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IBM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer cut International Business Machines from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on International Business Machines from $290.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.40.

International Business Machines News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: IBM successfully connected and cooled two modular cryogenic systems to below 15 millikelvin, creating an architecture intended to link hundreds of quantum chips. The milestone supports IBM’s roadmap toward a 1,000-qubit system by 2027 and the planned fault-tolerant Quantum Starling system in 2029. IBM Connects Its First Modular Cryogenic Systems in Milestone Toward Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing
• Positive Sentiment: The quantum advance is being viewed as a meaningful engineering step toward fault-tolerant computing, helping support IBM’s differentiated position in quantum technology and contributing to the upward movement in IBM shares. IBM Clears Major Hardware Hurdle on the Path to Its Quantum Supercomputer
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s Maximo government software-as-a-service product received FedRAMP Moderate authorization, potentially expanding its addressable U.S. government market. Separate commissioned research also reported that Maximo users show higher maintenance maturity than industry peers, supporting the product’s enterprise value proposition. IBM Secures FedRAMP Moderate Authorization For Maximo Government SaaS
• Neutral Sentiment: Arrow Electronics expanded its IBM distribution coverage, which could improve channel reach and support sales growth, but the announcement provided no immediate financial targets. Arrow Electronics Expands IBM Distribution Coverage to Support Channel Growth
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced a securities-fraud investigation related to IBM’s prior stock decline. The notice is not an allegation finding or formal determination of wrongdoing, but it adds headline and potential litigation risk. IBM Investor Reminder Securities Fraud Investigation

International Business Machines Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:IBM opened at $237.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $223.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52 week low of $199.19 and a 52 week high of $332.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $248.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.49.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.93. The firm had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.46 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 35.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.98%.

International Business Machines Profile

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.