International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• IBM has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 27 analysts, with 17 buy ratings, 9 hold ratings, and 1 strong buy. The average 12-month price target is about $306.94.
• Recent analyst moves were mixed: JPMorgan upgraded IBM to overweight and Citigroup raised its target to $375, while KeyCorp downgraded the stock to sector weight and Weiss Ratings cut it to hold.
• IBM recently reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.69 per share, implying a roughly 2.5% yield.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $306.9444.

IBM has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of International Business Machines to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of International Business Machines from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $291.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $285.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on International Business Machines in a report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 424.6% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 260,740 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $77,234,000 after purchasing an additional 211,040 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 18,288 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,930 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 993,743 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $280,439,000 after purchasing an additional 32,072 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,122 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Partnership LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,317,000. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

More International Business Machines News

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: IBM introduced a new “nanostack” chip architecture at the 0.7 nm node, with roughly 100 billion transistors on a fingernail-sized chip. Analysts at Wedbush said the development supports IBM’s long-term hardware ambitions as AI computing demand rises. IBM quantum foundry plan adds to long-term hardware strategy: Wedbush
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports said the announcement could extend Moore’s Law and improve chip performance and energy efficiency, reinforcing IBM’s relevance in next-generation AI infrastructure. IBM unveils tech for chip smaller than 1 nanometer in AI computing push
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment also improved after commentary that the breakthrough positions IBM as a possible long-term winner in AI hardware, helping fuel the stock’s recent momentum. IBM Unveils Prototype for Sub-1-Nanometer AI Chip. Why It Matters.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage noted the technology is still a research prototype and may not reach production for years, so the commercial impact is not immediate. IBM (IBM) Stock Surges 6% on Revolutionary Sub-Nanometer Chip Technology
• Negative Sentiment: One article argued IBM still faces skepticism from investors over execution and longer-term growth, even after the chip news, which could temper enthusiasm. 3 Reasons to Avoid IBM and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

International Business Machines Trading Up 5.1%

IBM opened at $271.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $255.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.26. International Business Machines has a fifty-two week low of $212.34 and a fifty-two week high of $332.46.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.69 dividend. This is a boost from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.

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