International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $182.53.

IBM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $801,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 1.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 11,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $731,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $377,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 97.4% during the third quarter. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA now owns 608 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM opened at $176.48 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.29. 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 has a 1 year low of $131.70 and a 1 year high of $199.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 75.65%.

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.