Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Free Report) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,094,106 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,951 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of International Business Machines worth $241,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in International Business Machines by 1,054.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 127 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in International Business Machines in the third quarter worth $43,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in International Business Machines during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 23,700.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 238 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IBM shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $205.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, International Business Machines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $208.94.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $774,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,463,928. The trade was a 12.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

International Business Machines Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of IBM stock traded down $0.56 on Friday, hitting $223.36. The stock had a trading volume of 12,243,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,256,242. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $157.88 and a one year high of $239.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.16. The company has a market cap of $206.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.03. International Business Machines had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 40.52%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. International Business Machines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.23%.

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.