International Business Machines Corporation $IBM Holdings Trimmed by Stephens Consulting LLC

Stephens Consulting LLC reduced its position in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 87.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 451 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,225 shares during the quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Whelan Financial boosted its holdings in International Business Machines by 2.4% during the second quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 1,525 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC grew its position in International Business Machines by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 3,964 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.6% in the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 2,474 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of International Business Machines by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on International Business Machines from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Erste Group Bank raised International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on International Business Machines from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.38.

International Business Machines Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE IBM opened at $304.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. International Business Machines Corporation has a one year low of $214.50 and a one year high of $324.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $302.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.53 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.69.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 37.76%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $1.68 per share. This represents a $6.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. International Business Machines’s payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

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.