International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading 1.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) rose 1.6% on Monday . The company traded as high as $266.45 and last traded at $265.74. Approximately 2,495,463 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 3,897,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IBM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on International Business Machines from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Trading Down 3.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $230.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.42.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 104.21%.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,189,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,888 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,589,145,000 after acquiring an additional 427,499 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 413.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,634,577,000 after purchasing an additional 9,650,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,209 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.