International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Stock Price Up 2%

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $174.97 and last traded at $173.33. Approximately 2,101,584 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 4,755,325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on IBM shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $165.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $181.29.

International Business Machines Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $159.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $180.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.73.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This is a positive change from International Business Machines's previous quarterly dividend of $1.66. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. International Business Machines's payout ratio is currently 75.65%.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in International Business Machines by 6.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,152,714 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,833,642,000 after acquiring an additional 5,546,855 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 13.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,280,968,000 after buying an additional 1,919,490 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,465,214 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,048,631,000 after buying an additional 61,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,019,009,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.