International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $232.75, but opened at $220.80. International Business Machines shares last traded at $216.96, with a volume of 2,247,389 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on IBM shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. DZ Bank downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.65.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $199.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.05.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.05. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 40.59%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.65%.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,833,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,546,855 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the third 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 151.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,515,666 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $671,352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,165 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 306.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,401,798 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $242,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,759 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 12,282.2% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 472,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 468,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

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.