International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Shares Sold by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC lowered its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 57,139 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,464 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines accounts for 2.4% of Advocate Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $12,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 40.9% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $1,940,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the second quarter worth about $7,160,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter worth about $5,117,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 75,638 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,615,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $224.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.32. The company has a market cap of $207.75 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $162.62 and a 12-month high of $239.35.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company 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 2.97%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on IBM. UBS Group boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.73.

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.