Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Buys 2,337 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,453 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,337 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $4,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Ellenbecker Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 4.0% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.6% during the third quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring 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 4th quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Sollinda Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $224.73 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $223.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.48. The stock has a market cap of $207.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $239.35.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $216.87.

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.