Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Purchases New Stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,064 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 42.6% in the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 194 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IBM. Melius Research upgraded International Business Machines to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KGI Securities set a $242.00 price objective on International Business Machines and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $263.06.

International Business Machines Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of International Business Machines stock traded down $1.02 on Wednesday, reaching $281.68. 2,803,825 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,230,020. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.69. International Business Machines Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $181.81 and a fifty-two week high of $296.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.14.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $14.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.43% and a net margin of 8.71%. International Business Machines's quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. International Business Machines's payout ratio is presently 115.66%.

International Business Machines 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.