Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Sells 80 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. reduced its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,345 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,515,290,000 after buying an additional 365,388 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in International Business Machines by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,465,214 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,631,000 after buying an additional 61,028 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at $1,019,009,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,500,184 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $736,015,000 after buying an additional 97,482 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of IBM opened at $172.95 on Friday. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $199.18. The firm has a market cap of $158.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on IBM shares. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.53.

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.