International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading Up 0.8% After Analyst Upgrade

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) shot up 0.8% on Thursday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $260.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. International Business Machines traded as high as $225.85 and last traded at $225.15. 600,635 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 3,357,243 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.26.

IBM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on International Business Machines from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered International Business Machines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $220.73.

Insider Activity at International Business Machines

In other International Business Machines news, SVP Nickle Jaclyn Lamoreaux sold 3,600 shares of International Business Machines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.20, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in International Business Machines by 1,054.5% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 127 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in International Business Machines by 56.0% during the 4th 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 stake in International Business Machines by 134.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $223.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.90. 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 has a market cap of $208.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. International Business Machines's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.