Main Street Research LLC Invests $269,000 in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Main Street Research LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,644 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IBM. Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 research note on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, January 5th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $144.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.08.

International Business Machines Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of International Business Machines stock traded up $3.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $184.88. 2,785,322 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,830,223. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $120.55 and a 1 year high of $199.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $188.62 and its 200 day moving average is $168.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $169.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

International Business Machines Company 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.