Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,557 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 428 shares during the quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its position in International Business Machines by 2.3% during the third quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 4.0% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sollinda Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.7% in the third quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $220.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $222.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $162.62 and a 1 year high of $239.35.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm’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 company posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IBM. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.81.

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.