Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Decreases Stock Position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lessened its stake in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,672 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,076,195 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,515,290,000 after acquiring an additional 365,388 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in International Business Machines by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,257,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,280,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,919,490 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 4.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,970,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,398,886,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 10.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,691,369 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,219,399,000 after buying an additional 807,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of International Business Machines by 15.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 6,345,842 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $890,322,000 after acquiring an additional 871,247 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of IBM traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $183.18. The stock had a trading volume of 3,280,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,753,136. The firm has a market cap of $167.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.70. International Business Machines Co. has a 1 year low of $120.55 and a 1 year high of $199.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $188.35 and its 200 day moving average is $169.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The technology company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $17.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.29 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.55%. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IBM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on International Business Machines from $179.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut International Business Machines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of International Business Machines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.23.

About International Business Machines

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.