International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Position Trimmed by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,792 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 90,171 shares during the period. International Business Machines accounts for about 5.0% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC's holdings in International Business Machines were worth $34,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 80,474 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines by 18.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 372,307 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $52,235,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.2% in the third quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 21,880 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the third quarter worth $661,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America raised their price target 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. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.23.

International Business Machines Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE IBM traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,569,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,806,687. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $188.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.98. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $120.55 and a 1 year high of $199.18.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.66 per share. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

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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