Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Position in International Business Machines Corporation $IBM

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,445 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,108 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in International Business Machines were worth $30,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Business Machines during the third quarter worth approximately $852,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in International Business Machines during the second quarter worth about $16,565,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,019,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913,708 shares in the last quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,710,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 122,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of IBM opened at $302.69 on Friday. International Business Machines Corporation has a twelve month low of $214.50 and a twelve month high of $324.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $303.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.94.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 37.76% and a net margin of 12.09%.The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on IBM shares. Weiss Ratings raised International Business Machines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Oppenheimer started coverage on International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, November 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.85.

International Business Machines 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.