Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Position in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,220 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SWAN Capital LLC bought a new position in International Business Machines in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in International Business Machines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on IBM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $290.00 to $270.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of International Business Machines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $290.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $317.00 to $283.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.17.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IBM opened at $285.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $267.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $246.48 and its 200-day moving average is $270.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.80. International Business Machines Corporation has a 52 week low of $212.34 and a 52 week high of $332.46.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.60 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 37.23%. International Business Machines’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.4 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from International Business Machines’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.68. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

More International Business Machines News

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reportedly reset its IBM price target, citing stronger AI momentum and continued demand for IBM’s enterprise software and consulting offerings.
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s new strategic partnership with Google Cloud to scale enterprise AI adoption is being seen as a meaningful growth driver, with the deal aimed at helping customers modernize systems and bring AI into production faster. IBM and Google Cloud Announce Strategic Partnership to Scale AI with Human Expertise and AI?Powered Delivery
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentary pieces highlighted IBM’s large quantum-computing investment as a long-term catalyst, with some analysts saying the company is strengthening its position in an emerging high-growth market. IBM Stock’s $10 Billion Quantum Catalyst Is Here
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also pointed to IBM’s growing role in quantum computing, reinforcing the view that the company’s heavy spending could secure a leadership position in a market with major future upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM shares were included in broader market coverage of stocks making big moves, reflecting elevated trading interest but not adding a clearly new company-specific catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: A former IBM cybersecurity executive accused the company of covering up multiple foreign-government data breaches over the past decade, raising potential reputational and legal risks. Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches
• Negative Sentiment: Another report repeated allegations that IBM and AT&T concealed foreign hacks, which could weigh on investor sentiment if the claims gain traction.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.