Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Acquires 1,829 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,519 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $2,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $592,746,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at $573,306,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,539,888 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,687,253 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $370,909,000 after purchasing an additional 800,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,387,221.07. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 15th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:IBM opened at $250.01 on Wednesday. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $162.62 and a 12-month high of $266.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.21%.

International Business Machines 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.