International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) were up 1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $254.32 and last traded at $252.33. Approximately 826,301 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,886,097 shares. The stock had previously closed at $249.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on IBM. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on 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. StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.7 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $233.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 104.21%.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In related news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in International Business Machines by 413.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,634,577,000 after purchasing an additional 9,650,534 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth about $1,236,176,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter valued at about $592,746,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $573,306,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,209 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.