International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• IBM shares jumped after JPMorgan Chase upgraded the stock from neutral to overweight and raised its price target to $291 from $270. The stock opened well above its prior close, signaling strong investor reaction to the upgrade.
• Other analysts have also been broadly positive on IBM, with multiple firms maintaining or raising targets and MarketBeat showing a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The average price target across analysts is $306.94.
• IBM’s recent momentum is also being supported by its quantum computing and AI narratives, including policy tailwinds, a White House quantum event, and a new partnership with OpenAI on cyber defense. The company also recently reported earnings and raised its quarterly dividend slightly to $1.69 per share.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $252.22, but opened at $261.58. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $291.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $270.00. International Business Machines shares last traded at $264.8110, with a volume of 3,577,770 shares trading hands.

IBM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wedbush set a $350.00 target price on International Business Machines in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. HSBC upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $218.00 to $231.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.94.

Key International Business Machines News

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded IBM from neutral to overweight and raised its price target to $291 from $270, signaling more upside after recent weakness. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Trump publicly praised IBM CEO Arvind Krishna at a White House quantum event, reinforcing investor enthusiasm that IBM could be a key winner in the emerging quantum-computing buildout. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The broader quantum-computing sector is getting a policy boost from two executive orders fast-tracking the technology, helping IBM shares move higher alongside peers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: IBM also announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring frontier AI into cyber defense, adding another positive AI-related growth narrative for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM continues to highlight AI-driven efficiency gains, including a reported $4.5 billion in savings from its “client zero” initiative, which supports the company’s AI credibility but is less of an immediate stock catalyst. Article Title

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IBM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,523,720,000 after purchasing an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,617,117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,663,847,000 after buying an additional 2,553,552 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 359.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,896,675 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $561,814,000 after buying an additional 1,484,026 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,796,390,000 after buying an additional 1,439,824 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The business's 50-day moving average price is $251.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.17. The company has a market capitalization of $246.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. The business had revenue of $15.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. International Business Machines's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. International Business Machines's payout ratio is 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.

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