International Business Machines Corporation $IBM Holdings Trimmed by L2 Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• L2 Asset Management cut its IBM stake by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,452 shares and ending with 24,279 shares valued at about $7.19 million.
• Institutional interest in IBM remains strong, with hedge funds and other investors holding 58.96% of the stock; several big firms, including Norges Bank, Vanguard, and Capital World Investors, also added to positions.
• IBM reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including $1.91 EPS on $15.92 billion in revenue, and it recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.69 per share for a 2.5% yield.

L2 Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,279 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,452 shares during the period. International Business Machines accounts for 1.0% of L2 Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. L2 Asset Management LLC's holdings in International Business Machines were worth $7,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in International Business Machines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,523,720,000 after buying an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,796,390,000 after buying an additional 1,439,824 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,582,818 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,357,478,000 after buying an additional 954,879 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,052,880 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $861,401,000 after buying an additional 865,253 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on IBM shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of International Business Machines from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group raised shares of International Business Machines from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays started coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Wedbush set a $350.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of International Business Machines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $304.17.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.5%

IBM stock opened at $268.19 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1 year low of $212.34 and a 1 year high of $332.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.84. The firm has a market cap of $252.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The business had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. International Business Machines's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $1.69 dividend. This is a boost from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. International Business Machines's payout ratio is 59.77%.

International Business Machines 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.

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