Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $16.92 Million Stake in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,158 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $16,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the fourth quarter worth $2,446,429,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,976,756 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,617,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,663,847,000 after buying an additional 2,553,552 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 359.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,896,675 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $561,814,000 after buying an additional 1,484,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in International Business Machines by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,216,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,796,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,824 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s strategic partnership with OpenAI will embed OpenAI models and tools, including GPT-5.6, into IBM Consulting’s enterprise AI platform. IBM also plans to establish a dedicated OpenAI Practice and train thousands of consultants and engineers, potentially strengthening its position in regulated industries such as finance, government, telecommunications and retail. IBM partners with OpenAI to bolster enterprise AI push
• Positive Sentiment: IBM’s $240 million, multi-year agreement with Together AI will build an NVIDIA-powered AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud. Strong anticipated demand could support growth in IBM’s cloud infrastructure and high-performance AI workloads. Can IBM’s Together AI Cloud Deal Boost Its Growth Prospects?
• Positive Sentiment: IBM-reported research indicates that 85% of organizations planned to increase security spending by May, up from 64% during the prior period, as companies respond to frontier-AI cyber threats. This could benefit IBM’s cybersecurity, consulting and AI automation businesses. Frontier AI Threats Drive Companies to Boost Security Budgets
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage characterizes IBM as a relatively attractive technology investment because of its steadier earnings outlook, valuation and dividend, while other commentary highlights longer-term opportunities in quantum computing. These factors may provide support but are unlikely to resolve near-term growth concerns. AST SpaceMobile vs. IBM: Which Tech Stock is the Better Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: IBM’s shares have declined even after the OpenAI announcement, suggesting investors want evidence that the alliance can accelerate sales and profits. The partnership’s costs, implementation timeline and ability to convert consulting demand into recurring revenue remain key uncertainties. IBM Stock Drops Despite Major OpenAI Partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announced an investigation into potential securities fraud following IBM’s significant stock decline. The announcement is primarily an attorney solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds headline and litigation risk. IBM securities fraud investigation reminder

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on IBM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $360.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on International Business Machines from $288.00 to $262.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.40.

International Business Machines Price Performance

Shares of International Business Machines stock opened at $234.79 on Friday. International Business Machines Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $199.19 and a fifty-two week high of $332.46. The company has a market cap of $221.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $251.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.20. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.93. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 35.65% and a net margin of 15.52%.The firm had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is presently 59.98%.

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.