Verus Financial Partners Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 55.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,615 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares during the quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc.'s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,189,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,888 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,589,145,000 after purchasing an additional 427,499 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 413.5% in the fourth 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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $2,384,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,112,092 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,783,281,000 after acquiring an additional 722,582 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on International Business Machines from $237.00 to $233.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $268.75.

International Business Machines Stock Down 7.4%

IBM stock traded down $20.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $261.13. 15,714,781 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,563,813. International Business Machines Corporation has a 1 year low of $181.81 and a 1 year high of $296.16. The firm's 50 day moving average is $277.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.30. The stock has a market cap of $242.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.58 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.43% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.