Financial Counselors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,264 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,006 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $13,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,189,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,888 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,665,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,465,223,000 after acquiring an additional 126,547 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position 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 worth $1,148,717,000 after acquiring an additional 294,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth about $592,746,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IBM shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $250.26 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $248.65 and a 200-day moving average of $230.90. The company has a market cap of $232.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $162.62 and a 1 year high of $266.45.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.21%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the company’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 value of $6,715,644.43. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.