International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Short Interest Down 11.4% in October

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,980,000 shares, a drop of 11.4% from the October 15th total of 23,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.9 %

International Business Machines stock traded down $4.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,986,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,693,159. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $218.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.67. International Business Machines has a 12 month low of $152.13 and a 12 month high of $237.37. The stock has a market cap of $189.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. International Business Machines's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that International Business Machines will post 10.12 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio is presently 97.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IBM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of International Business Machines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on International Business Machines from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. DZ Bank cut International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $208.12.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines

In other news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,390 shares in the company, valued at $5,463,928. This trade represents a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 7.7% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 6,572 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,127 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in International Business Machines in the 1st quarter worth $611,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in International Business Machines by 25.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,217 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. increased its position in International Business Machines by 0.9% in the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 7,542 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

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.