International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded International Business Machines from a "hold" to a "buy" rating in its latest note to investors.
• Analyst consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with one Strong Buy, nine Buy, six Hold and one Sell; the average price target is $293.38, with individual targets ranging (e.g., Oppenheimer $360, Jefferies $305, Morgan Stanley $252).
• IBM recently beat Quarter estimates with EPS $2.65 vs. $2.45 and revenue $16.33B vs. $16.10B (+9.1% YoY); the stock opened at $291.35 (down ~1.6%), market cap ~$272.3B and a P/E of 34.85.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on IBM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Friday, November 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on International Business Machines from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $293.38.

International Business Machines Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of International Business Machines stock opened at $291.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $272.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.69. International Business Machines has a one year low of $214.50 and a one year high of $324.90. The stock's 50-day moving average is $304.54 and its 200 day moving average is $281.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. International Business Machines's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,776,307 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,024,243,000 after purchasing an additional 724,832 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,536,963 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,076,406,000 after buying an additional 147,721 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,936,235 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,444,527,000 after buying an additional 400,131 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 13.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,045,156 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,809,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,077,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in International Business Machines by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 8,636,725 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,147,608,000 after purchasing an additional 524,633 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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.