International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Cut to “Hold” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank cut shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on IBM. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $304.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Dbs Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.07.

International Business Machines Price Performance

NYSE:IBM opened at $257.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $284.00. The stock has a market cap of $240.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.69. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $214.50 and a 52 week high of $324.90.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.33 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $19.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.15% and a net margin of 15.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.27%.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In related news, Director David N. Farr bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $304.00 per share, with a total value of $304,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,258 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,432. This trade represents a 12.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth about $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,523,720,000 after purchasing an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,617,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,663,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553,552 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,019,274,000 after buying an additional 1,913,708 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in International Business Machines by 27,928.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,903,116 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,001,000 after buying an additional 1,896,326 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.