Farmers Trust Co. Sells 1,716 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Farmers Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,254 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,716 shares during the period. International Business Machines comprises about 1.9% of Farmers Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $10,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IBM. Ellenbecker Investment Group grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.3% in the third quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 2,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC grew 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 worth $298,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.7% during the third quarter. Sollinda Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 3.4% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 1,503 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM stock traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $223.13. 1,509,292 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,812,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $206.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.49. International Business Machines Co. has a twelve month low of $159.51 and a twelve month high of $239.35.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 97.23%.

Insider Activity

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on IBM. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of 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, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.88.

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.