Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 284,148 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,775 shares during the quarter. International Business Machines accounts for 2.5% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $46,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,515,290,000 after purchasing an additional 365,388 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,592,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,337,660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,458 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,297,545 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,119,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,170 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 98,797.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,029,001 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,553,876,000 after purchasing an additional 11,017,849 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,398,886,000 after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, January 5th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore raised shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.85.

International Business Machines Stock Performance

IBM stock traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $183.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,104,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,843,753. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a one year low of $120.55 and a one year high of $199.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.26.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $17.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.29 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.55%. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $1.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $6.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is 81.67%.

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.