Shum Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,630 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20,324.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,702,340 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in International Business Machines by 306.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $242,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,759 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 587.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,262,000 after buying an additional 536,785 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 12,282.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 472,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 468,567 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 103.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 886,323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,948,000 after purchasing an additional 449,912 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:IBM traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $226.38. 731,745 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,235,276. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $219.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.71. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $154.75 and a 12-month high of $237.37.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.12.

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.