West Branch Capital LLC Sells 5,132 Shares of International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

West Branch Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,871 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,132 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,796,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,824 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,996,293 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,290,452,000 after acquiring an additional 518,321 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in International Business Machines by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,605,083 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,679,105,000 after acquiring an additional 336,069 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in International Business Machines by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,021,912 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,523,720,000 after acquiring an additional 4,976,756 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 7.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,063,653 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,893,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,602 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IBM shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of International Business Machines from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut International Business Machines from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler raised International Business Machines to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on International Business Machines from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.40.

International Business Machines Trading Up 1.0%

International Business Machines stock opened at $238.62 on Wednesday. International Business Machines Corporation has a one year low of $199.19 and a one year high of $332.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $255.09 and its 200 day moving average is $254.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93. The business had revenue of $17.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 35.65% and a net margin of 15.52%.International Business Machines’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 59.98%.

Key International Business Machines News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure deal provides the clearest near-term catalyst. IBM signed a multi-year agreement valued at approximately $240 million with Together AI to build a large-scale open-source AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud. The system will use NVIDIA HGX B300 platforms and Spectrum-X networking, with availability expected in the first quarter of 2027. The contract supports IBM’s effort to turn AI demand into cloud revenue and strengthens its position in the growing inference market. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: IBM is broadening its partner-led sales reach. TD SYNNEX plans to expand IBM distribution into 20 additional countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. The move could improve access to IBM’s cloud, software, and infrastructure offerings, although the direct financial impact is not yet quantified. TD SYNNEX expands IBM distribution article
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM raised CAD 997.11 million through fixed-rate notes. The 4.750% notes mature in 2034, giving investors updated information about IBM’s funding costs and capital structure. The proceeds provide liquidity, but the additional debt and interest expense are a consideration given the company’s existing leverage. IBM funding and stock attention article
• Neutral Sentiment: Quantum computing remains a longer-term growth narrative. Commentary citing IBM’s CEO suggests the technology could begin making a measurable contribution to results in coming years, but it is not an immediate earnings driver. IBM quantum computing outlook article
• Negative Sentiment: Risk concerns remain. A law firm announced an investigation into a sharp prior decline in IBM shares, while separate commentary raised concerns about whether massive industrywide AI infrastructure spending can generate adequate returns. These developments may limit enthusiasm despite the new AI contract. IBM securities investigation article

About International Business Machines

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.