International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Receives $242.41 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $248.50.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IBM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total transaction of $6,715,644.43. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. This trade represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,650,534 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,236,176,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 29,564.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,399,790 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,940,520,000 after buying an additional 4,384,958 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at about $592,746,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 buying an additional 1,704,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

International Business Machines Price Performance

IBM stock traded up $5.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $244.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,284,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,983,706. International Business Machines has a fifty-two week low of $163.53 and a fifty-two week high of $266.45. The stock has a market cap of $227.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The company's 50 day moving average is $243.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.06.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $14.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. International Business Machines's revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. This is an increase from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.97%.

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.