International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Shares Up 8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• IBM's stock surged 8% after UBS Group raised its price target from $200.00 to $210.00, despite maintaining a sell rating. The stock traded as high as $310.75 before closing at $307.78.
• Several research firms, including Stifel Nicolaus and Bank of America, have also raised their price targets, with the average price target now at $288.00 and an overall rating of "Hold".
• IBM announced a quarterly dividend of $1.68, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.2%, and revealed earnings of $2.65 per share, beating estimates of $2.45 for the quarter.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 8% during trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $210.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $310.75 and last traded at $307.78. Approximately 16,863,014 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 246% from the average daily volume of 4,867,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $285.00.

IBM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $253.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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 research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $288.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in International Business Machines during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,011,122,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,040,057,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 1st quarter valued at about $960,386,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,019,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 27,928.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,903,116 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $561,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

International Business Machines Stock Up 8.0%

The company has a market cap of $286.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $264.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.96.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.10 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 37.99%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. International Business Machines has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $1.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

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.

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