International Business Machines' (IBM) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price target on the technology company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.14% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $181.29.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.70. 3,293,737 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,788,172. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $180.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.13. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $125.01 and a 52 week high of $199.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 40.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that International Business Machines will post 9.91 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 477,193 shares of the technology company's stock worth $78,045,000 after purchasing an additional 80,474 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 18.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company's stock worth $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.2% during the third quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 378 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the technology company's stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is currently 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.