International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) Short Interest Update

International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,840,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the December 15th total of 23,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Business Machines

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 worth $12,307,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,803 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in International Business Machines by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,487,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,467,974,000 after purchasing an additional 330,694 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in International Business Machines by 6.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,366,715 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,274,074,000 after purchasing an additional 444,698 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 6.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,195,933 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,148,717,000 after purchasing an additional 294,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,726,700 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $602,819,000 after purchasing an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.96% of the company's stock.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

Shares of IBM stock traded up $2.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $224.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,481,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,994,162. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.87 and a 200-day moving average of $210.89. The company has a market cap of $207.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.74. International Business Machines has a 52 week low of $162.62 and a 52 week high of $239.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

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

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IBM has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on International Business Machines from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on International Business Machines from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $215.81.

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.