International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Down 1.4% - What's Next?

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $247.64 and last traded at $249.05. 762,326 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 4,192,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IBM. KGI Securities set a $242.00 target price on International Business Machines and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $248.50.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $231.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $243.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.18. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $14.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $1.68 dividend. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is presently 115.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.01, for a total value of $6,715,644.43. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. The trade was a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in International Business Machines by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,137,767 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $23,159,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,515 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,909,646 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,589,145,000 after buying an additional 427,499 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 413.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,650,534 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,704,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in International Business Machines by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,112,092 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,783,281,000 after purchasing an additional 722,582 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Company Profile

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.