International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading 2.5% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• IBM's share price increased by 2.5%, closing at $240.74 with a significant drop in trading volume, reflecting a 58% decrease from its average session volume.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on IBM, with targets ranging from $195 to $325, resulting in an average forecast of a "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $268.75.
• The company reported $2.80 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 7.7% year-over-year revenue growth, indicating solid financial performance.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 2.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $240.77 and last traded at $240.74. 2,016,863 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 4,752,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $234.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. KGI Securities set a $242.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $237.00 to $233.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $268.75.

International Business Machines Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $223.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $274.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.39.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.58 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 37.62%. International Business Machines's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in International Business Machines by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,019,274,000 after buying an additional 1,913,708 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,936,235 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,444,527,000 after purchasing an additional 400,131 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings 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 valued at $2,634,577,000 after purchasing an additional 9,650,534 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 18.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,704,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 6.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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