Aspiriant LLC Purchases 518 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Aspiriant LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,327 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in International Business Machines by 971.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on IBM shares. Evercore raised International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Societe Generale reissued a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday, January 5th. Evercore ISI raised International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Friday, January 5th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.85.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock opened at $185.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $170.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $188.75 and a 200-day moving average of $167.13. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $120.55 and a 12-month high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $17.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. International Business Machines’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.66 per share. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.67%.

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.