Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,080,881 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 13,225 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of International Business Machines worth $237,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,205 shares of the technology company's stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,852 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the technology company's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the technology company's stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on IBM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.44.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

International Business Machines stock traded down $2.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $261.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,665,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,735,325. International Business Machines Co. has a 12-month low of $162.62 and a 12-month high of $265.72. The company has a market capitalization of $242.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $235.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.81.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.15. International Business Machines had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.21%.

International Business Machines 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.