Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,792 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,556 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $11,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,467,974,000 after buying an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,274,074,000 after buying an additional 444,698 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,148,717,000 after acquiring an additional 294,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $602,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock opened at $222.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $162.62 and a 12-month high of $239.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on IBM. DZ Bank cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $208.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,463,928. This represents a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.