International Business Machines’ (IBM) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $190.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on IBM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI raised International Business Machines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $178.67.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of International Business Machines stock opened at $181.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $166.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines has a twelve month low of $120.55 and a twelve month high of $199.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $188.46 and its 200 day moving average is $168.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 98,797.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,029,001 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,553,876,000 after buying an additional 11,017,849 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,019,009,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in International Business Machines by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,592,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,337,660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,458 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 15,439.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $433,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,053,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,317,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645,235 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.