Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in IBM by 6.4% during Q1, owning approximately 497,048 shares valued at $123.6 million after the sale.
• IBM reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.80, exceeding estimates of $2.65, while revenue rose by 7.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.68 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $6.72 and a yield of 2.8%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 109.09%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 497,048 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 33,755 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.05% of International Business Machines worth $123,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in International Business Machines by 74.1% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 444 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 87,026 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $21,642,000 after purchasing an additional 30,651 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 139.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 533,070 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $132,553,000 after purchasing an additional 310,005 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 1st quarter valued at $181,000. Finally, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 2,070 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IBM shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on International Business Machines from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Melius Research upgraded shares of International Business Machines to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $268.75.

International Business Machines Stock Down 0.9%

International Business Machines stock traded down $2.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $241.41. 2,411,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,679,933. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52-week low of $199.34 and a 52-week high of $296.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.71. The business's 50-day moving average price is $264.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.58 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 37.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.43 earnings per share. International Business Machines has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is 109.09%.

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.