Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Holdings in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its IBM stake by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, adding 139,187 shares and bringing its holdings to 4,717,735 shares worth about $1.40 billion.
• IBM’s latest earnings beat expectations, with quarterly EPS of $1.91 versus the $1.81 consensus and revenue of $15.92 billion, up 9.5% year over year.
• The company raised its dividend to $1.69 per quarter, or $6.76 annually, for a yield of about 2.5%; analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $304.17.

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,717,735 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 139,187 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.50% of International Business Machines worth $1,397,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 586,968 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $173,866,000 after purchasing an additional 98,797 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 165,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $49,120,000 after purchasing an additional 30,784 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 5,500 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 5,002 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. now owns 2,481 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on IBM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wedbush set a $350.00 price target on International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on International Business Machines from $290.00 to $270.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $290.00 price target on International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded International Business Machines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $304.17.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

NYSE IBM opened at $271.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $255.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $250.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.34. International Business Machines Corporation has a twelve month low of $212.34 and a twelve month high of $332.46.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.23% and a net margin of 15.61%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

About International Business Machines

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IBM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.