International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded IBM from a "buy" to a "hold" in a research report issued Saturday.
• MarketBeat's analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $293.38, based on 17 analyst ratings (1 Strong Buy, 9 Buy, 6 Hold, 1 Sell).
• IBM recently reported Q3 EPS of $2.65 (beating estimates by $0.20) and revenue of $16.33 billion, up 9.1% year-over-year, while the stock trades around $301 with a P/E of 36.00.

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $293.38.

International Business Machines Stock Up 0.2%

IBM opened at $300.94 on Friday. International Business Machines has a twelve month low of $214.50 and a twelve month high of $324.90. The company's 50-day moving average price is $301.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.56. The stock has a market cap of $281.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in International Business Machines in the second quarter worth $16,565,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $28,019,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,708 shares in the last quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,710,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 122,623 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $36,147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 34.5% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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.