International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,980,000 shares, a decrease of 11.4% from the October 15th total of 23,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its position in International Business Machines by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 6,572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,127 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 4,971 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 1st quarter worth about $611,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 25.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 7,542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. DZ Bank lowered shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised International Business Machines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.12.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM traded up $2.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $207.87. The company had a trading volume of 2,242,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,228,252. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.88. International Business Machines has a 12-month low of $152.35 and a 12-month high of $237.37. The company has a market capitalization of $192.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.71.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

International Business Machines Company 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.