International Business Machines Corporation $IBM Stake Boosted by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc boosted its IBM stake by 3% in the fourth quarter, and several other institutional investors also increased holdings. Overall, about 58.96% of IBM shares are owned by institutions.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on IBM, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $304.17. Recent reports from firms like Citigroup and Morgan Stanley also adjusted their price targets upward.
• IBM beat first-quarter expectations, reporting $1.91 EPS and $15.92 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 9.5% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.69 per share, signaling continued shareholder returns.

Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,531 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines accounts for about 0.7% of Vestcor Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Vestcor Inc's holdings in International Business Machines were worth $23,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 424.6% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 260,740 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $77,234,000 after buying an additional 211,040 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 18,288 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,417,000 after buying an additional 2,930 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 3.3% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 993,743 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $280,439,000 after buying an additional 32,072 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,122 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,887,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 51.7% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 114,395 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,278,000 after buying an additional 38,973 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $285.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $304.17.

More International Business Machines News

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reportedly reset its IBM price target, citing stronger AI momentum and continued demand for IBM’s enterprise software and consulting offerings.
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s new strategic partnership with Google Cloud to scale enterprise AI adoption is being seen as a meaningful growth driver, with the deal aimed at helping customers modernize systems and bring AI into production faster. IBM and Google Cloud Announce Strategic Partnership to Scale AI with Human Expertise and AI‑Powered Delivery
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentary pieces highlighted IBM’s large quantum-computing investment as a long-term catalyst, with some analysts saying the company is strengthening its position in an emerging high-growth market. IBM Stock’s $10 Billion Quantum Catalyst Is Here
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also pointed to IBM’s growing role in quantum computing, reinforcing the view that the company’s heavy spending could secure a leadership position in a market with major future upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM shares were included in broader market coverage of stocks making big moves, reflecting elevated trading interest but not adding a clearly new company-specific catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: A former IBM cybersecurity executive accused the company of covering up multiple foreign-government data breaches over the past decade, raising potential reputational and legal risks. Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches
• Negative Sentiment: Another report repeated allegations that IBM and AT&T concealed foreign hacks, which could weigh on investor sentiment if the claims gain traction.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of IBM opened at $285.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $267.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.67. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1-year low of $212.34 and a 1-year high of $332.46. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $246.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.94. 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 (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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