Sfmg LLC Cuts Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Sfmg LLC decreased its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,885 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IBM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IBM. Societe Generale restated a “sell” rating and issued a $143.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $144.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.08.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM traded up $2.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $183.75. 4,473,654 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,265,758. The company has a market cap of $168.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.63 and a 200 day moving average of $168.44. 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.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 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.