International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Given "Outperform" Rating at Wedbush

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Wedbush in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price target on the technology company's stock. Wedbush's target price suggests a potential upside of 18.69% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KGI Securities set a $242.00 price target on International Business Machines and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $248.50.

International Business Machines Price Performance

NYSE IBM traded up $3.65 on Wednesday, hitting $252.77. The stock had a trading volume of 942,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,191,929. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.99 and a 200-day moving average of $234.38. The company has a market capitalization of $234.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $163.53 and a 52-week high of $266.45.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. The business 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 38.99% and a net margin of 9.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,839,252 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,189,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,888 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,589,145,000 after acquiring an additional 427,499 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 9,650,534 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 18.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,783,281,000 after purchasing an additional 722,582 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

About International Business Machines

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.