Nicolet Bankshares Inc. Sells 4,593 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. lowered its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 52.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,143 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,593 shares during the period. Nicolet Bankshares Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,236,176,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at $592,746,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,189,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,888 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,909,000 after purchasing an additional 800,930 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 23,311.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 697,182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,262,000 after purchasing an additional 694,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on International Business Machines from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.13.

International Business Machines Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $235.49 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.95. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $162.62 and a 12-month high of $266.45. The firm has a market cap of $218.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. Analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

International Business Machines 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.