M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Invests $1.03 Million in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,704 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,034,000. International Business Machines comprises 1.1% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IBM. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in International Business Machines by 20,324.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,715,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $600,373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702,340 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at about $573,306,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,671,883 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $12,307,940,000 after buying an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in International Business Machines by 587.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,213 shares of the technology company's stock worth $134,262,000 after acquiring an additional 536,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 886,323 shares of the technology company's stock worth $195,948,000 after acquiring an additional 449,912 shares during the period. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IBM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. DZ Bank lowered International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $209.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $216.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total value of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.9 %

IBM traded up $2.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $224.73. The stock had a trading volume of 5,481,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,994,162. International Business Machines Co. has a 1-year low of $162.62 and a 1-year high of $239.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $222.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.14.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 40.52% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. International Business Machines's payout ratio is 97.23%.

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.