International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) was up 2.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $307.45 and last traded at $305.82. Approximately 5,993,842 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 47% from the average daily volume of 4,090,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $297.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IBM has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on International Business Machines from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on International Business Machines from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.38.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $303.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.42. The company has a market capitalization of $285.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.70.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $1.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter worth about $28,000. SWAN Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 85.0% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 111 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About International Business Machines

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.