Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 55,200 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,028,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 971.4% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI raised International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Evercore raised International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.85.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM stock traded down $3.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $182.27. 3,547,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,623,920. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a 52 week low of $120.55 and a 52 week high of $199.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $188.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.51.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.29 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 39.55% and a net margin of 12.13%. International Business Machines’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.