Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,934 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,515,290,000 after acquiring an additional 365,388 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in International Business Machines by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $890,322,000 after acquiring an additional 871,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 15,439.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,653,462 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $433,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636,386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $165.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,399,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,979,017. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $186.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.82. International Business Machines Co. has a 52-week low of $120.55 and a 52-week high of $199.18. The company has a market capitalization of $152.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.21% and a net margin of 13.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on IBM. Evercore upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Societe Generale reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $143.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on International Business Machines from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.29.

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.