Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 7,351 Shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,176 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,351 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in International Business Machines were worth $7,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Capital World Investors grew its stake in International Business Machines by 413.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,984,609 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,634,577,000 after buying an additional 9,650,534 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $1,236,176,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 29,564.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,399,790 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,940,520,000 after acquiring an additional 4,384,958 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter worth about $592,746,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,845,993 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,384,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,209 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. KGI Securities set a $242.00 price objective on International Business Machines and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up from $160.00) on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $249.06.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IBM traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $266.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,655,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,210,076. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $247.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.98. The stock has a market cap of $247.92 billion, a PE ratio of 41.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $165.78 and a 1-year high of $269.28.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $14.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. International Business Machines's revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.66%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.