International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Given "Outperform" Rating at Wedbush

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by investment analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $300.00 target price on the technology company's stock. Wedbush's price target suggests a potential upside of 27.04% from the stock's current price.

IBM has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $242.41.

International Business Machines Trading Up 1.6 %

IBM stock traded up $3.74 during trading on Thursday, hitting $236.15. The company had a trading volume of 3,646,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,217,298. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.84, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.92. International Business Machines has a 52-week low of $162.62 and a 52-week high of $266.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert David Thomas sold 26,543 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 45,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,387,221.07. This trade represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 156 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 134.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in International Business Machines in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

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.